As a Cockerham resident myself, I was delighted to spend a Saturday celebrating all things wild and wonderful at Moss Wood Caravan Park. As soon as you arrive on the site, you are greeted with an abundance of colour as native wildflowers tumble out of large planters and borders, leading you deeper into the park.

I arrived along with other supporters to set up our stands for the day ahead. I had the pleasure of being given a spot next to Alasdair McKee from the engagement team at the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, more familiarly the RSPB. As we chatted about our most recent campaigns, our incredible volunteers and the wonder of interactive colouring sheets, we admired the excitement of the Moss Wood residents, young and old, all eager to explore and learn. We both were showered with questions and nature lovers sharing stories about their local wildlife sightings, with families whipping out their camera phones to show us what they had spotted on their stays at Moss Wood.  

We were joined by the Forest of Bowland AONB who shared even more information about areas to visit a bit further afield. The Frailloop recycled steel sculpture team were there showing the power of creativity when it comes to recycling. We even saw some mini beekeepers on site, learning about the behaviours of bees and the important role they play in pollination, with Cross Apirary sharing tasters of their ranges of honey.

Moss Wood Caravan Park have a wonderful nature trail for their visitors to enjoy, sharing insights into wild meadows, birds to look out for and bug hotels. We love the teams effort to share the abundant nature and wildlife that Lancashire has to offer to all of their guests. Moss Wood take huge pride in celebrating sustainable tourism in Lancashire, working to minimise their impact on the local environment and encouraging their guests to do the same.

Walking around the site you can see the efforts being made- recycling bins are readily available and their office is a recycled paper only zone. Landscape work done on site has been done with local wildlife in mind, whilst trees and hedges are only cut at the times of year least likely to disturb wildlife. A strip at the bottom of the hedgerows is left untouched to protect vulnerable habitats and most hedges are cut on a two-yearly cycle to allow them to most effectively pollinate. Areas of grass are allowed to grow free, with no interference and the plants that have been planted are locally sourced, native plant species to encourage the growth of natural wildlife.

Alongside their 20 consecutive years achieving the Gold Award for the David Bellamy Conservation Award Scheme, as of July 2023 they are proudly celebrating achieving the Bronze level of the internationally recognised Green Tourism scheme and are working towards the Gold level of sustainability. We are delighted to have Moss Wood Caravan Park on board as a local business member and we look forward to next years Wild Day and the next steps they take in their sustainability journey.