Eco Escapes Sustainable Tourism Initiative Wins Green Business Award

10th July 2023

The Forest of Bowland National Landscape Partnership has won a prestigious Chamber Low Carbon Award for its ground-breaking Eco Escapes sustainable tourism initiative.

In the very first Lancashire Business Environment Awards ceremony at Crow Wood Hotel & Spa in Burnley, the Eco Escapes project won the Public Sector Award, recognizing its contribution to reducing carbon emissions from the county’s tourism and hospitality sectors.

Award certificate

The Forest of Bowland collaborated with Arnside and Silverdale National Landscape Partnership to develop and promote sustainable tourism in rural Lancashire with the launch of a new website and social media campaign.

Funded by Lancashire County Council’s Rural Recovery Fund, the Eco Escapes initiative encourages visitors to arrive by train and explore the area on foot, by bike or on e-bike. The campaign is also designed to promote ‘slow tourism’ ­– inspiring visitors to stay longer and support independent rural businesses.

It also asks people to support independent businesses by buying local produce and stay longer at their destinations.

The award judges said they were: “Highly impressed with the achievements of a small, highly motivated team that have achieved a bottom-up approach to growing the tourism sector.  

"This has entailed getting the business community involved via collaboration, not to just stamp tourism growth onto the area but to enable low impact and sustainable tourism."

Photo showing presentation of award

The Eco Escapes website: www.ecoescapes.org.uk provides car-free sustainable travel itineraries which link main stations and visitor attractions and highlight visitor destinations which support sustainable tourism.

Eco Escapes has four main objectives: all designed to reduce the carbon footprint of visitors travelling to and within each of the National Landscapes while enhancing the resilience of the rural economy.

  • Travel light – leave the car at home and use public transport to visit
  • Tread carefully – explore on foot, by bike, e-bike or mobility scooter
  • Shop Local – support independent businesses by buying local produce
  • Stay longer – explore more by extending your trip into a mini-break

At the heart of the initiative is a collection of bespoke Eco Escapes itineraries to help visitors make the most of their time in Lancashire’s rural landscapes. Each itinerary focuses on a different area or aspect of the Eco Escapes offer: from walking and cycling tours to railway walks and foodie tours.

Sustainable tourism businesses, hospitality and accommodation providers across the two National Landscapes have completed green tourism training and accreditation as part of the Eco Escapes initiative.

Local hospitality and accommodation providers and visitor attractions, as well as local government officers, also attended a Sustainable Tourism Symposium to share best practice and to learn more about sustainable and inclusive tourism in the Forest of Bowland. Hosted by Caz Graham of BBC Radio 4’s Farming Today programme, 85 attendees participated in the event.

Hetty Byrne, the Forest of Bowland National Landscape’s sustainable tourism officer said:

“We’re absolutely thrilled to receive recognition for the ground-breaking Eco Escapes initiative.

“Eco Escapes aims to protect and nurture our fragile environments while welcoming visitors who are happy to travel light, shop local and maybe linger a while longer in these outstandingly beautiful landscapes.”

“Slow and sustainable tourism is rapidly rising up the travel agenda and by encouraging both visitors and rural businesses to reduce their carbon footprint, we are helping future-proof Lancashire’s expanding rural tourism sector.”

Shaun Turner, Lancashire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Environment & Climate Change said:

“Few people outside the county realise Lancashire has some extraordinarily beautiful rural landscapes; these hidden gems are some of the county’s best-kept secrets.

“We backed the Eco Escapes project to help rural entrepreneurs reboot their businesses and build back more resilient rural enterprises.

“Supporting businesses in this way will not only encourage more spending in rural areas but will also help drive further investment in the rural economy going forward."

The principles of sustainable tourism have been at the heart of the Forest of Bowland National Landscape’s visitor economy for almost 20 years and the Eco Escapes initiative has been pivotal in consolidating this work to establish Lancashire’s outstanding natural landscapes as one of England’s foremost destinations for visitors in search of sustainable holidays in the great outdoors.

Photo: The Eco Escapes Team with their Chamber Low Carbon Award: (from left) Mark Sutcliffe, campaign consultant, Shaun Turner, Lancashire County Council, Hetty Byrne, Forest of Bowland National Landscape sustainable tourism officer, Karen Lawrenson, Senior Project Manager, Lancashire County Council.


Feast Bowland 2024

- 8th August 2024

Bowland Life through a Lens

- 1st August 2024

Bowland Dark Skies Festival 2024

- 21st December 2023

Traditional Boundaries Training

- 21st November 2023

All-Terrain Wheelchair Demo Day

- 20th September 2023

Tramper Taster Day

- 22nd August 2023

Pendle Peat & Pie Challenge

- 26th April 2023

New Bowland Visitor Guide

- 20th February 2023

The Festival Continues!

- 10th October 2022

Hay Time Gets Creative!

- 3rd August 2022

REBELLION IN THE FOREST

- 20th July 2022

Langden Intake Gravel

- 1st July 2022

Meadow Art Workshops

- 23rd May 2022

Discovering Wonderful Waxcaps

- 9th September 2021

Tramper Taster Day

- 8th September 2021

Visiting Bowland

- 14th June 2021

Name that Bee!

- 13th April 2021

Meadow Makers Project

- 8th April 2021

Festival Bowland 2021 is here!

- 6th January 2021

COVID-19 Update

- 5th January 2021

Covid-19 Update

- 31st December 2020

Green Recovery Challenge Fund

- 10th December 2020

Bringing Home the Turf

- 7th December 2020

Let's Support Local This Christmas

- 26th November 2020

Photo Competition Winners

- 18th November 2020

COVID-19 Update 05.11.2020

- 5th November 2020

Best of Bowland Photo Competition

- 12th October 2020

New Discover Bowland website

- 29th September 2020

Ginkgo Prize for Ecopoety

- 26th August 2020

Festival Events Go Virtual

- 10th August 2020

Days to Remember

- 31st July 2020

Coronavirus Update

- 6th June 2020

COVID-19 Update

- 20th March 2020

Hay Time Rescue - Project Summary

- 11th February 2020

Bowland Dark Skies Festival

- 6th January 2020

What is Bowland Without its Trees?

- 3rd September 2019

Postcards for Kindness

- 4th July 2019

Meadows to Morris Dancing

- 10th June 2019

Tramper Taster Day

- 15th May 2019

Half a Kilometre of Hedge

- 24th January 2019

Wildflower meadow rescue mission

- 17th October 2018

Traditional Boundaries Training

- 20th September 2018

National Landscape Family's Week

- 13th September 2018

Bowland Heads Back to the Stone Age

- 12th September 2018

Bowland by Night

- 3rd September 2018

Meadow Magic

- 18th June 2018

June is Blooming!

- 15th May 2018

Bowland Wader Project Newsletter

- 22nd February 2018

Outstanding Week 2017

- 5th September 2017

Festival Bowland Fun in Autumn

- 22nd August 2017

Summer in Bowland

- 26th June 2017

Winter Hedge Laying Workshops

- 29th November 2016