Virtual Honesty Box to be set up at Quantock Hills for visitors

Adam Lockyear, from Wellington, has founded a company called Honesty Box, and he hopes to launch a voluntary visitor payment scheme on the Quantock Hills during Easter.

Visitors can choose to donate a certain amount each time they visit, and the money will go towards projects to help protect this Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).

Mr Lockyear has worked in conservation for more than 20 years and became aware of the challenges and opportunities to improve the environment for everyone.

"With growing visitor pressures on the environment and a greater public awareness of environmental issues I felt there was an opportunity to create a way of helping people to give back to support the places they love," he said.

"Our aim in creating Honesty Box is to make that link between the work that takes place in the countryside and the people visiting it.

"We wanted to create a service that ensured the income generated went directly to the places people wanted to support and for those paying to be able to see the impact of their spending.

"We also feel that our approach has a positive social impact and is not the introduction of mandatory parking fees.

"Special projects can be created within Honesty Box allowing visitors to support specific projects whether that is habitat creation, surfacing tracks to improve access for all, supporting visits from disadvantaged communities or restoring historic features."

There will be A4 and round signs on existing signs and main gateways on the Quantock Hills.

Visitors can scan the QR code or type in the box number, then enter card details and select how much they want to pay.

The money will go towards specific projects including tree planting grants for community groups, access improvements at Cothelstone Hill and installation of nestboxes for birds, dormice and bats in the oak woods of Quantock Common.

Chris Edwards manager of Quantock Hills AONB said: "The beautiful landscapes, historic features and exceptional wildlife of the Quantocks are available to everyone – providing really important opportunities for quiet recreation and significant health benefits, particularly to the people of Somerset, year-round.

"With so many footsteps on paths, cars on roads, and people in the landscape, some impact on our natural environment and local communities is inevitable.

"Honesty Box is a way of offering visitors the opportunity to give a little something back to looking after the places they love and a way of providing a mechanism for collecting those small contributions which, collectively, can add up to significant amount of funding to help us do this work."

To find out more visit honestybox.org or join the Facebook group: facebook.com/Honesty-Box-103256868419549.