Praise from top botanist for dedication to conservation

A FAMILY has been praised by TV presenter and botanist David Bellamy for its "great green park" he has described as a "wildlife wonderland" near Truro.

Kingfishers, owls and butterflies live alongside residents and tourists in 115 acres of wooded countryside at Cosawes Park, Perranarworthal.

The Fraser family, which has run the business for 55 years, have scooped a silver David Bellamy Conservation Award for its work in protecting the environment.

As well as running a park, home and tourism business, large areas of woodland on the park are carefully managed to provide a natural haven for wildlife, including deer, badgers, mink and many other species.

The River Kennal, which winds through the park, attracts birds and animals including aquatic species such as damsel flies.

The family recently installed eco-friendly toilets, which have a heat pump and rainwater-saving devices and solar heating on a rentable cottage – moves praised by Professor Bellamy.

He applauded the park's extensive recycling facilities and its use of shielded lighting to minimise light pollution and congratulated the Fraser family on the park's involvement with the surrounding community, including the money it had raised to help a local school group.

Manager Rhiannon Fraser said: "As the owner and my father in-law would say, it's been a lifetime's work.

"We're lucky enough to be in a wooded valley so nature's done a lot of the work itself.

"Coming to work every day is always a joy, especially on a sunny day when you can open the doors and listen to the birds."