DARTMOOR National Park's visitor centre at Princetown was the setting for a ceremony celebrating the winners in the annual Park Protector Awards, organised by the Campaign for National Parks.

Delegates at the event heard how Plantlife's winning 'Make the Small Things Count' project is enabling thousands of people to have the opportunity to learn about the wonderful Atlantic Woodlands that are found in Devon and Somerset and discover the hidden treasures of ferns, mosses and liverworts.

The runner-up project, the North York Moors Buildings at Risk app — designed to come up with the best ways to assess the current state of the Park's Grade II Listed buildings for inclusion on the Heritage at Risk register — has been taken up by English Heritage to be used across the country.

The annual Park Protector Award recognises, rewards and celebrates exceptional projects or individuals that have made a lasting contribution to the protection, restoration or conservation of the National Parks in England and Wales.

Julian Woolford, Campaign for National Parks chief executive, said: 'The winning projects are wonderful examples of how innovation can help building understanding of the fantastic nature and culture within our National Parks. It is important that projects like these get the recognition they deserve through the Park Protector Awards so that they can inspire others to follow in their wake.'

Rachel Jones, Plantlife South West Outreach Manager, said 'Make the Small Things Count'was now working with schools on Dartmoor, Exmoor, the Quantock Hills and North Devon Coast at key stages one and two.

Beth Davies, North York Moors National Parks Authority building conservation officer, said English Heritage was developing a variant of the app to allow people across the country to survey buildings using their own smart phones.

Peter Harper, chairman of the DNPA, said the authority was pleased to be hosting the awards and an exhibition about the project would be hosted next year.