David Bellamy praised conservation endeavours at a local new nature trail on Tuesday.

The Discovery Trail at Lydstep Beach Village is open to walkers using the Pembrokeshire Coast Path as well as caravan owners and holidaymakers staying on the caravan park.

The third-of-a-mile nature walk is the latest environmental project to be introduced at the park which has held the coveted Gold David Bellamy Conservation Award for the last seven years.

Opening the trail, devised by Park ranger Kiri Howell, Professor Bellamy praised the woodland and beach walk as the latest example of how tourism could encourage people to enjoy the countryside as well as look after it.

He said: "Caravan parks act as a green window to the countryside, especially for urban dwellers. Lydstep Beach Village is a prime example of good conservation management. I am delighted to officially open the Discovery Trail which will allow even more people to enjoy the bountiful wildlife and wildflowers that flourish here."

The trail is accompanied by a beautifully illustrated leaflet informing visitors of the interesting wildlife and flowers that can be seen. There are also bird and bat boxes, a badger set, a butterfly area and a tree with low branches where children can try their skills at limbo walking along the route.

Woodpeckers and jays can often be seen here. The Discovery Trail, funded by the holiday park and the Pembrokeshire National Park, ends on Lydstep Beach, which is a regular winner of the Blue Flag award for its cleanliness, water quality and facilities.

Accompanying David Bellamy was Christa Sinclair, environmental advisor to Bourne Leisure, parent company of Lydstep Beach Village.

She said: "It's great to see this partnership project go from strength to strength. It's a delicate balance to strike when you have large numbers of visitors to such a naturally rich area, but Lydstep is a wonderful example of how tourism and the environment can work in harmony and we have used this as a blueprint for many other Ranger projects around Wales and England."

Professor Bellamy previously visited Lydstep to launch the David Bellamy Family Park Rangers, a scheme available free of charge to all Haven and British holidaymakers to encourage families to discover more about the environment.

The creation of the woodland walk comes as a report last week warned that many of Britain's best-loved woodland flowers, including the primrose, are in danger of dying out.

The study said the number of species had dropped by more than a third between 1971 and 2001 and blamed intensive farming, pollution, climate change and poor woodland management.