An independent and sustainable holiday destination in North Northumberland has pledged to plant a tree for every direct booking it receives before the end of February to help the area recover after the devastation of recent storms.
Thousands of trees were felled during Storm Arwen in late November, including six on grounds of Laverock Law Cottages near Berwick-upon-Tweed, while more were damaged in subsequent storms Malik, Corrie and most recently, Dudley.
And Laverock Law Cottages' owners Harvest and Dave Harris Jones, whose holiday cottages are close to Kyloe Woods, said that they want to help the environment recover after the shock of losing so many trees in North Northumberland.
Harvest said: "Where we live there are so many trees being lost. We wondered how we could help the natural environment recover and the idea was born for every direct booking in January to the end of February we'd plant a tree.
"Three people who have stayed here recently have left a donation towards getting a tree because they can really see how the area has been affected and they really want to make that difference."
The trees that Harvest and Dave are planting are all native species to Northumberland, and they say they want to do it for the next generation.
Harvest continued: "During Storm Arwen, we had no electricity for six days and that’s another thing that inspired us to plant the trees because the whole world is so reliant on electricity. The power cut taught us how fragile the world is really, and how important trees are to us because actually the air we breathe in we’ve been gifted by the trees and the air we breathe out we’re gifting it back. It’s very much about the reconnection to nature."
With Storm Eunice on the way, Harvest is worried that more trees could be damaged. She said: " The thing that it makes me feel is the vulnerability. Because we don’t know how strong those storms are going to be until they get here. We were hardly affected at all by Storm Dudley but once you’ve had the experience of a Storm Arwen, I think that’s what you measure things against."
Sustainability is nothing new to Laverock Law, which has been nominated for the Ethical, Responsible and Sustainable Tourism Award at this years North East Tourism Awards. As well as its current tree planting project, it uses locally-sourced food for home made cakes, while its cottages have low carbon heating systems, electric vehicle charging points, and eco-cleaning materials.
Harvest continued: "We love where we live and sustainable tourism is going to look after Northumberland. It's making those small changes that can make the difference, and we can all work together and make a change. Sustainability doesn't necessarily mean you don't have luxuries, it's about making conscious decisions on where you want your money to go and what footprint you want to leave.
"For Northumberland to be a sustainable destination, that would be such an amazing thing to be able to achieve - it's an amazing goal.
"Areas like Cornwall have tried to become sustainable but it has become too busy. It's the management of the visitors and the landscapes. It's very much about getting the visitors to understand where you live and to look after it at the same time.
"For example, I promote places to eat that do local food because it's all about keeping money in our local economy and encouraging people to have a bigger spend - that's more sustainable because it's keeping jobs in Northumberland."
