STAFF at the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority (YDNPA) have been playing host to groups of Russian and German visitors.

Robert White, the Authority's Senior Conservation Archaeologist, met a party of academics led by Professor Yury Vedenin, director of Moscow's Institute of Cultural and Natural Heritage, which is concerned with conservation of landscapes including national parks and heritage sites.

Their visit was mainly to learn more about how we manage the landscape

Robert White - YDNPA

He showed the group different areas of the National Park including Dent Village, the famous Ribblehead Viaduct and the Authority-owned Dales Countryside Museum in Hawes.

"Their visit was mainly to learn more about how we manage the landscape and look after sites of historical importance within the National Park," he said.

A group of journalists from Germany also spent three days in the Dales looking at ways the YDNPA promotes sustainable tourism.

They learned about some of the environmental projects being run in the National Park including the Limestone Country Project, which aims to preserve rare plants and flowers by encouraging farmers to return to mixed livestock grazing using hardy, native cattle breeds.

But it was not all work - they also tried their hand at dry stone walling, went mountain biking and walking with YDNPA staff and visited a micro-brewery.