THE conservation efforts of a mother and son partnership saw them win the North-East biodiversity award.

Mrs Belinda Terry and her son, Will, farm 270 acres at Ravenscar, near Scarborough. They recently featured in the D&S Times when they became an official LEAF (Linking Environment and Farming) demonstration farm.

The farm is visited by thousands each year as they walk the many routes around and across it, including the Cleveland Way.

The farm is owned by the Terrys, and their agricultural craftsman, Mr Brian Harrison, has been with them for more than 25 years.

There are strong populations of roe deer, brown hares and other wildlife on the farm as well as a variety of birds, including game, raptors, grey partridge and sky larks. The farm has a large range of habitats including hedges, dry stone walls, ditches, tracks, ponds and woodlands.

It gained LEAF status in recognition of its sound business decisions and environmental objectives.

"We hold our many years of hard work up for all to see," said Mrs Terry. "One of the main aims of the farm is to leave the land in better shape than when we started, so allowing for continued development in the future."

However, the poor agricultural returns in recent years have prevented the Terrys from spending as much as they would like on conservation.

"The marketing of rare breed sheep products has become almost impossible," said Mrs Terry. "If we sold the coloured wool from the rare breed sheep, we would actually lose money on it."

But the family is still going ahead with environmental and conservation schemes, including tree planting for shelter for wild-life and stock, and re-building dry stone walls, with financial help from the North York Moors national park.

The Terrys farm 470 ewes, including 40 rare breed sheep, and 100 acres of arable crops. They continuously upgrade their farming practices alongside conservation improvements.

Land not suitable for cultivation has been planted with trees with the help of forestry grants.

They have identified land not required for agricultural production, which has led to cost savings and environmental improvements, and their end products are farm-assured, which helps with marketing.

l The bio-diversity runner-up was Mr Ian Brown from Rennington, near Alnwick, who as planted new woodland, planted or restored hedges, and created ponds, nest boxes and red squirrel feeders.

The farm boasts 57 species of birds and holds LEAF demonstration farm status.