Accommodation Providers

People have been travelling to see wildlife for at least the last 150 years. When managed sympathetically with nature, wildlife tourism can have considerable benefits for the local economy and can provide incentives to protect habitats or populations of animals. Widllife tourism brings benefits to local business, especially the opportunity to provide accommodation for visitors.

Through the innovative use of new technology such as miniature video cameras, the Chalk & Hawks Project aims to interpret the wildlife of Dorset in new and exciting ways, thereby encouraging more visitors to spend time (and money) in rural heartlands.

The Chalk & Hawks Project works with Rural Accommodation Providers (RAPs) in a number of ways:

• We run wildlife activities, events and tours, which can be offered by RAPS to their guests
• We organise wildlife events and workshops at sites owned by RAPs (mainly farms)
• We provide wildlife watching equipment and services for events organised by RAPs (e.g. BBQs or farm open days)
• We supply/install wildlife cameras (bought or rented) so that RAPs can offer wildlife watching to their gusets as an integral oart of their stay. This includes miniature video cameras inside nestboxes and bird feeders plugged into a television in visitor accommodation.
  

Chalk & Hawks will be running a series of some 40 guided wildlife walks and tours across much of Dorset through 2006 (see list of activities and events). Clients of Rural Accommodation Providers are welcome to attend these ‘stand alone' events or may wish to partake in a more extensive/exclusive wildlife tour.