The Bellamy award.
Conservation is at the heart of everything we do. Back in 2011, Hentervene Holiday Park joined the Bellamy conservation scheme, and was thrilled to announce that at the first attempt entering the scheme, we were awarded the highest possible award, the GOLD accolade by professor David Bellamy. Since then, we have consistently enhanced Hentervene as a diverse environment for wildlife, and so far have been awarded Gold each year. Not only does it reflect our ongoing efforts, but it also is a pat on the back from the many of you who have been here and enjoyed our environment, feeding back so positively to the Bellamy award scheme, a huge thank you to all of you.
The Turner family bought Hentervene back in 2004, and we have made conservation one of our top priorities ensuring that the habitat is looked after and cared for so as to encourage and protect the wild life, flora and fauna on the parks and in the surrounding environment.
We have worked very hard to make the most of our environment for the wildlife round and about. We are in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and it is easy to see why. The diversity of plants and animals on and around our park is immense. Here are some of the things we have achieved here so far…
Management of grassland
The grass on our parks is mowed regularly and kept neat and tidy as possible. We do not collect the grass, we mulch it as a natural feed. There are parts of our parks where the grass is not mown regularly to encourage the growth of wildflowers and grasses. We have approximately 4 acres on the park dedicated to a natural Wildflower Meadow and wildlife walk, that’s nearly half of the park. The meadow is mown once a year in September to ensure that the wildflowers have time to pollinate and set seed first. The presence of these wildflowers means there is a huge number of bees butterflies, moths and birds in the area, it is positively buzzing in the summer months.
Natural control of pests
We do not use pesticides at all at Hentervene. Where pests are present, we let the natural wildlife deal with them. The local wildlife plays a great part in keeping pests at bay: Hedgehogs eat slugs; frogs and toads eat insects, ladybird and hoverflies eat aphids and wasps prey on various pests. Yes, they do have a use!
Feeding & housing the wildlife
Our owners are encouraged to feed the birds with appropriate food. Many have bird feeders and tables. We have provided lots of homes for our wildlife friends such as bird boxes (small birds and owls,) solitary bee lodges, log piles for insects and fungi. We have developed three ponds, all of which are full of wildlife, newts, frogs, diving beetles, dragonflies to name but a few. We have dense hedges, laid flat to provide natural nesting and feeding habitats for birds. We have areas of brambles deliberately left to feed the birds (and some of the customers!)
We have also built a log herb garden for our customers to use, the logs providing the hiding places for the animals that deal with the slugs.
2015 saw the introduction of the Orchard in which we planted many trees, including apples, plums and cherries.
We also committed to becoming a bee friendly park, ensuring we have a plentiful supply of nectar rich plants for as much of the year as possible.
Saving Energy
We have energy efficient light bulbs in all our public buildings. We mulch the gardens with bark to conserve moisture so less water is required. We do not have an electrical lighting system around Hentervene, we have solar lamps at strategic points. The night skies here are phenomenal. We switch off un-used devices and don’t leave appliances on stand by and we encourage our customers to do the same. If everyone does their own little bit, it will make a big difference globally.
Recycling/Re-using
We have a dedicated area for recycling and our owners are encouraged to use these facilities to recycle their glass, plastic, paper, cardboard etc. For any items that are unable to be recycled at the park e.g. electrical items, there is a local recycling centre near Bude and in Delabole. We also have water butts to collect water to use on our gardens and flower tubs, as do some of our lodge/caravan owners, and we also have our own private borehole, spring water on tap!
Information
Our conservation work, whilst being on going right from the beginning is becoming more prominent. We have always encouraged our customers to feed birds, and tend their plots if they so wish. We have encouraged them to have their own water butts. We wish to provide even more information regarding the sort of wildlife around and about. Hentervene has just entered into the world of Facebook (so not much feedback as yet!) where we can provide regular information about what is going on. We also welcome information from anybody who has a holiday home here or has stayed here and wants to share what they have found and would love to hear about some of the plants and animals spotted here. Conservation requires dedication and is a long-term commitment. People stay here because it is a natural and peaceful environment. The Turner family and all of our customers are all committed to preserve and enhance this beautiful landscape for our visitors and future generations. We still have work to do, but we can all do our bit. Thank you for reading this.