So, we'd brought together fantastic new visitor centres, wildlife hides and guided experiences for our nature tourists.

The next step was to connect all of these opportunities, combine them with other things to see and do, and create seasonal itineraries for ‘wild days, weekends and weeks’.

A vital corner of the Yorkshire Nature Triangle’s work has been to promote what the region can offer in terms of wildlife tourism. We wanted to connect nature tourism into the promotion and development of East Yorkshire.

Impressive results

We completed research with Leeds Beckett University revealing that the value of East Yorkshire’s nature tourism economy increased from £9 million to £24 million in just eight years.

This is fantastic after such hard work and commitment from multiple organisations. Even more excitingly, there is plenty more potential for it to grow even further… nature tourism could be worth £35 million - £42 million by 2025.

But there are other stats that equally impressive too:

• Since 2015, 133 local businesses have received one-to-one support
• Over 250 businesses are now actively promoting East Yorkshire's amazing wildlife tourism.
• Media has reached over 500,000 people in the last year and 1 million Twitter impressions have been made
• Promotional videos have received over 40,000 views on social media.

While the Yorkshire Nature Triangle project has come to an end, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust will continue to take nature tourism development to its next phase.

There’s a strong foundation in place and the project will be a valuable case study nationwide on how wildlife conservation and economic development can go hand-in-hand. 

Perhaps one of the biggest changes experienced over the last decade is that it’s now the norm for a wildlife conservation charity to take the lead on a tourism development project. Whilst ten years ago it was a leap for us to take the plunge… eyebrows are no longer raised but instead, nature tourism is now greeted with knowing nods and big smiles.

Here’s to a Yorkshire rich in wildlife for everyone – local businesses and visiting tourists alike!