Strawberries anyone?

STRAWBERRY production is flourishing in Chiba Prefecture,Japan home to more than 100 strawberry farms where visitors can enjoy "strawberry picking," which is quite popular with tourists.

Varieties of strawberry species are grown on many of the strawberry-picking farms, and visitors can enjoy eating the berries to compare their tastes. Notably, "CHI-BA+BERRY," a new strawberry variety that hit the stores in January 2017, is available only in Chiba Prefecture.

Chiba Prefecture sits about 40 kilometres southeast of the center of Tokyo on Tokyo Bay. There are many attractions making ii an interesting region to visit. The Chiba Urban Monorail, the longest suspended monorail in the world, Kasori Shell Midden, the largest shellmound in the world, Inage Beach, the first artificial beach in the nation and the Chiba City Zoological Park.

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Ultimate travel adventure

INSPIRED by five of David Attenborough’s most popular TV series, eShores have created the ultimate wildlife-lover’s holiday. Using locations from both series from Planet Earth and Blue Planet, plus the single series of Frozen Planet, we’ve retraced as many of Attenborough’s steps as possible to to create the #travel adventure of a lifetime.

To emulate the feats of Attenborough and his team from each episode of the five series, you’d have to embark on 175 flights across the world over at least 1034 days, along with several car journeys and a train journey across Siberian Russia.

Totalling £402,220 and lasting at almost 3 years (1034 days), the complete journey also includes several excursions to re-enact the adventures in the series as closely as possible. Included is a trip to Mount Everest from episode one of Planet Earth and an eight-day dogsledding expedition in Greenland, as seen in episode one of Frozen Planet.

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When in Hungary . . . visit the zoo

THE Budapest Zoo, built in 1866, is the oldest and largest zoo park in Hungary. Until the 1950s, it was the sole zoo park of the country. Its 11-hectare territory has been declared a natural preserve area in 1986. The park features 3,500 species of plants and 750 animal species.

A major renovation began in 1990, resulting in nearly all species getting their modern, spacious habitats. There are quite a few works of art on the territory of the Zoo; the two most significant of these are the Elephant House and the main entrance to the Zoo, built in Art Nouveau style. 

For children the Zoo has a special section where the cubs of some species may be fondled and fed with special food. There are also signs in Braille along with statuettes to touch for the blind. The roads and the animal houses can be accessed by wheelchair.

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Garden Route National Park score increase in visitors

THE Garden Route National Park (GRNP), #SouthAfrica has doubled figures of visitors to the National Park during the SA National Parks Week campaign. The week long campaign started on the 16th – 23rd September 2017 attracted a total of 7, 449 visitors to the Park. Most visitors were recorded in the Tsitsikamma section of the Park (3,714), Knysna (1,734) and Wilderness (1,506). 

The Park had prepared activities to showcase the diverse nature-experiences in the GRNP. Park Manager Paddy Gordon says ‘#Knysna has South Africa’s single largest complex of indigenous forests, fynbos areas. We also manage seascapes and estuaries. SANParks invests millions annually to protect and maintain the area for conservation to the benefit of current and future generations.’

The Garden Route remains exciting for both local and international visitors for its diverse ways of venturing into nature- hiking, cycling, ziplining, segways, scootours, water activities (snorkelling, diving, boat cruises, canoeing) and others.


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30 Days Wild

@Dani Cox.jpg

THIS June for the whole month, every day, everybody, everywhere, will be encouraged to enjoy nature on their doorstep, as well as the ‘great outdoors’. The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales (WTSWW) will be inspiring ‘Random Acts of Wildness’, practical, fun and quirky ideas that will connect people with the wild around them. 

Meander along a river bank, dance in a downpour, record a wild ringtone, meditate in a meadow or simply sip a glass of wine as the sun goes down and appreciate your garden. People can spend a few minutes, or a few hours each day enjoying nature - how they do it is up to them.

This year 30 Days Wild is revelling in the glory of traditional meadows which bloom with wildflowers in June. 'Unimproved' pastures and meadows with their characteristic wealth of wild plants and animals are rare and fragmented - occupying just 5% of the area that they occupied in 1945. The Wildlife Trusts care for many that can be visited and enjoyed.

Apply for a FREE 30 Days Wild pack at www/welshwildlife.org/30-days-wild/, download the phone app or look online for those inspirational Random Acts of Wildness.  Share the fun of #30DaysWild on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. WTSWW will be running wild events for all the family throughout June.

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Cornwall puts on a show

The Royal Cornwall Show - June 4-6 begins tomorrow. The annual Cornish event has been held for more than 200 years, championing local agriculture, livestock, #food, and tradition.

Show secretary, Christopher Riddle, commented on this year’s show.

'We feel we’ve got a mix of #entertainment plus things to see and do that will suit people of all ages and interests again this year. There’s possibly too much to take in fully on just one day.  The show is a real celebration and showcase of the very best that #Cornwall has to offer. We can’t wait to welcome everyone.'

Tickets are priced from £9 and the show opens to the public at 8:30am.

www.royalcornwall.co.uk

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Picture Credit: Royal Cornwall Show 2004 - geograph.org.uk - 105020 by Barry. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons 

Wildlife wonder

THE Disneyland of Wildlife … that’s is how Chris Packham, BBC Springwatch presenter, describes RSPB Minsmere in Suffolk, the location for this year's programme airing from May 25 to June 11. 

According to the show's producers, Minsmere is the most wildlife-rich site in the show's 11 year history. It has 5,600 plants and animals species including 1,000 species of moth and butterfly, 336 kinds of bird and 37 mammal species.


While Springwatch is on the box for just two weeks of the year, it's impact has been much more enduring, according to the tourism industry. George Bradley, general manager of holiday lettings company Suffolk Secrets, said he's looking forward to welcoming wildlife tourists during 2015 following the Springwatch effect. 

Last year, 11,000 people visited the site during filming, double the usual visitor numbers, and it was a major boost to short break tourism throughout the year.

www.rspb.org.uk/discoverandenjoynature/seenature/reserves/guide/m/minsmere

 

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Picture Credit: Common brimstone butterfly (Gonepteryx rhamni) male in flight by Charlesjsharp - Own work, from Sharp Photography. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons, FEMALE COMMON BLUE by Mike Darlow from UK Uploaded by Amada Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons, Marsh Harrier - geograph.org.uk - 923027" by Dave Green. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons, Flickr - don macauley - Red Deer by Donald Macauley from Carshalton, Surrey, UK - Red DeerUploaded by Amada Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons