Last autumn, the borough council joined forces with Concordia a company which organises international youth volunteer exchange projects across the world to secure the services of ten committed environmentalists for two weeks.
This was building upo
n the success of previous year's projects and the excellent work undertaken.
The project has been awarded second prize in the Business Category of Northumberland Wildlife Trust's 2008 Conservation Awards which were sponsored by npower.
The volunteers, aged between 18 and 26 travelled to Northumberland from France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, and Russia with the specific task of improving paths and habitats in local nature reserves in preparation for the second Morpeth Walking Festival last October.
During their time in Morpeth the volunteers collected 37 sacks of rubbish, cleared ten dead trees which were overhanging paths, cleared approximately one acre of bracken from paths, installed four path drains and removed invasive rhododendron bushes and bracken.
The international volunteers were assisted in their tasks by two local volunteers and many local walkers stopped and expressed a
keen interest in their project and appreciation for the work they were carrying out.
Handing over a commemorative plaque and certificate, Mike Pratt Northumberland Wildlife Trust's Chief Executive said: "These annual awards provide us with a fantastic opportunity to reward people and projects for their efforts and encourage them to continue helping to secure a future for wildlife in our region.
He continued: "This is a fabulous project which is well worthy of recognition.
"The group of young volunteers from across the globe have helped to improve our local environment, making it better for future generations."
Gary Doig, npower's Community Investment Manager said: "npower has been supporting Northumberland Wildlife Trust's Conservation Awards since 2003.
"As a responsible company we have an active community involvement programme and know that protecting the environment is important to our customers and our employees.
"One of our key aims is to inspire communities to get involved in improving their local environment, making it better for future generations.
"The Conservation Awards provide us with an excellent opportunity to acknowledge and reward the achievements of those already making a difference."
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