A TOP European Union official was due to visit the Yorkshire Dales yesterday (Thursday) to gather first-hand information on a unique project.

Nick Hanley, Head of the European Commission's Nature and Biodiversity Unit, was in the area to find out more about the Limestone Country Project (LCP), a scheme run by the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority (YDNPA) and English Nature that has just won a major European award.

The Project partly financed by £550,000 from EU LIFE (Nature) funds aims to introduce traditional breeds of cattle into the Dales to help to save the flora and fauna. Sheep graze close to the roots of grass and eat flowers and other plant life. They also prefer sweet grass, leaving the tougher coarse grass to grow unchecked.

The project encourages farmers to swap sheep for herds of traditional types of cattle like Blue Greys and Beef Short Horns that can survive the harsh winters living off the rough grasses, giving plants time to recover.

It is being run on internationally-important wildlife sites in the limestone area of the Dales including the Ingleborough National Nature Reserve (NNR) and the limestone pastures between Malham and Wharfedale.

Mr Hanley wanted to see what impact the LCP is having on the environment and the economy of the area and to find out what lessons could be learned. He was to meet local farmers and representatives from the LIFE (Nature), the YDNPA, English Nature, the National Trust, the Grazing Animals Project and DEFRA.

In September, the project was voted number one in the Eurosite Awards 2005.

Tim Thom, YDNPA senior wildlife conservation officer, said: "This award means we have been recognised as the best nature conservation project in Europe by the Eurosite group which is the largest network of organisations devoted to nature conservation management in Europe.

"The project continues to be a great success we have achieved all our major targets and now have more than 15 farmers in the scheme managing more than 2,000 ha of Natura 2000 land.

"Recent work with Skipton marketing group FEAST also means that we will soon be able to offer customers more high quality beef produced from limestone pastures in the knowledge that it is helping to preserve our local wildlife.

"We will be discussing with Mr Hanley the effects of the Common Agricultural Policy reforms on the future for upland farming and the need to encourage further cattle grazing for sustainable conservation."