A WOMAN whose career has included caring for orphaned baby monkeys and working with wildlife in Africa, has been appointed to a key job in the North York Moors National Park to boost many of its struggling businesses.

Lucy Saggers has joined the park authority from Earthwatch, the global conservation charity with whom she spent two years organising training for young African conservationists.

She also worked in Uganda on a rainforest wildlife project. It was while working in a Nigerian national park that she became involved with a charity which retrieves monkeys whose parents have been killed for the meat trade.

"In effect I was their mother. It was an extraordinary experience, but very rewarding," she said.

Ms Saggers now heads the new Developing the Assets of Protected Areas (DAPA) scheme in the park.

The project acts as a point of contact for existing or potential enterprises to help encourage development and spread new ideas.

Jointly funded by the park authority and Yorkshire Forward, the Government's regional development agency, it will aid rural businesses in the park and the Howardian Hills area of outstanding natural beauty.

Ms Saggers said that businesses that could benefit from the scheme included those which used local materials, such as stone and timber, or were involved in niche markets in the tourist industry. Industrial heritage tours, firms marketing local produce or involved in recycling projects could also be helped, she said.

In addition, parks and gardens, as well as those involved in developing river fisheries or involved in art projects, could also benefit.

"So far as farming is concerned, it is recognised that diversification is not a panacea for an unprofitable agriculture. However it may form part of the solution to profitability for some and employ additional members of the family," she said.