Sustainable transport charity, Sustrans, has launched the first in a series of new cycling networks in the UK. The initiative is part of a new UK-wide multi-million pound project to get people walking and cycling in their local areas.

Sustrans 'Connect2' network is funded by a £50 million Big Lottery Fund grant it was awarded after winning The People's Millions Lottery in December. According to Sustrans, over the next five years, "nearly £30 million a year will be invested in creating these local walking and cycling networks from Devon to Perthshire".

Nith Viaduct, Dumfries
Photo: South West of Scotland Transport Partnership

The first route to benefit from Sustrans 'Connect2' is the 'Queen of the South' Viaduct in Dumfries (above)...

The Observer's Travel section headline article this weekend was:

"Are you being greenwashed?"

"From B&Bs to Boeing, everyone is jumping on the environmental bandwagon, but how can we be sure that what they promise is what they deliver?" Tom Robbins reports...

Read the full article on Guardian Unlimited.

Have you been greenwashed?
Photo: Richard Hammond

There's also a blog on the Guardian/Observer Travelog so you can have your say.

"Of course many firms are genuinely improving their environmental and ethical performance and are doing so with only the best motives. But others have more cynical intentions - recognising a potent new marketing tool, they are exaggerating how green, sustainable, ethical and responsible they are. The problem is working out who's doing their bit, and who's just cashing in on eco-guilt."

Also featured in The Observer:
Seven Steps to More Responsible Travel, by Liane Katz and GreenTraveller's Richard Hammond.

The Expert Panel: Which is your favourite eco-escape? Contributions from GreenTraveller's Richard Hammond; Lucy Siegle, Observer Ethical Correspondent; Ed Gillespie, Slow Travel exponent and co-founder of Futerra; Pat Thomas, editor, The Ecologist; Harriet Lamb, executive director, The Fairtrade Foundation.

See also GreenTraveller's previous article on Tourism Greenwashing.

The judges of The Times 'Green Spaces' travel awards each month select their favourite nominations. GreenTraveller's Richard Hammond is one of the judges who, this month, writes about Kosi Bay, South Africa.

I recently visited Kosi Bay (left) at the northern tip of the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park - a World Heritage Site on the east coast of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, close to the border with Mozambique. It comprises four lakes, surrounded by forest and connected by narrow channels that open into the sea by a sweep of golden sand at Kosi Mouth. You need a permit to visit the bay so it never gets overcrowded. I stayed at Amangwane Camp, a community- run initiative. It organises snorkelling and kayaking in Kosi Bay and will show you how to spear-fish - the 700-year-old traditional (and sustainable) Thongan way.

Above: Kosi Bay, South Africa
Photo: Richard Hammond.

Details:
www.kosibay.net
www.rainbowtours.co.uk

Previous nominations:

GreenTraveller's Top Ten Green Places to Stay in Europe (all are reachable by train, bus or ferry):

Loch Ossian Hostel, Scottish Highlands | Can Marti, Ibiza | Lake District Yurts, England | Higher Lank Farm, Cornwall | Under the Thatch cottages, West Wales | Hoopoe Yurt Hotel, Andalucia
Orion B&B, France | Le Poujastou, Pyrenees | Canvas Chic, France | Whitepod, Switzerland

Loch Ossian Hostel, Scottish Highlands
The most eco-friendly youth hostel I have stayed in. You can only reach it by train - it's a mile walk from Corrour station on the Glasgow-Fort William line

Can Marti, Ibiza
The alternative side to Ibiza. A quiet organic farm in the north of the island near San Juan

Lake District Yurts, England
Authentic Mongolian yurts in the heart of the Lake District

Higher Lank Farm, Cornwall
Here's one for young families - in fact you can only go there if you have at least one child under 5

Earlier this week GreenTraveller met up with Mark Smith (the man behind seat61.com) and had a sneak preview of his excellent new 496-page book: The Man in Seat 61: A guide to taking the train through Europe. Part One is a guide to train travel, including timetables and tips for booking tickets and railpasses; Part Two is a country-by-country guide to recommended routes, train times and fares from the UK. There's information for 35 countries, from Albania to Ukraine, as well as details for travelling by train long distance - to Morocco, Tunisia, Syria-Jordan-Iran, and China-Japan via the Trans Siberian Railway.