SHENVAL BED AND BREAKFAST ... GREEN, SERENE, UPLIFTING ...

OUR GREEN TOURISM AND ENVIRONMENTAL COMMITMENT
AT SHENVAL ORGANIC B&B NEAR LOCH NESS

THE ORGANIC GARDEN AND ACCOMMODATION

We encourage biodiversity in our immediate surroundings : our own flower, fruit and vegetable garden is totally organic, banning all use of man-made chemicals, fertilizers, fungicides, herbicides and pesticides. Rather than use the public water supply to water our garden, we collect rainwater in recycled plastic water butts.

Our reward is a haven for wildlife of all kinds : newts, frogs and toads, lizards and slow worms, hedgehogs and shrews, bees, bumblebees, butterflies and dragonflies and a wide diversity of other insects, on which a huge variety of  birds feed. See our bird list in the left hand column to discover which birds frequent our garden.                                                                  

Our house itself provides accommodation to a colony of pipistrelle bats, housesparrows, and the annually returning swifts, house martins and spotted flycatchers, all nesting under our roof. Our guests and ourselves are in good company! Also Bed & Breakfasting in our garden over the years: robins in the prehistoric hut circle, greenfinches in the thuyas, blue tits under the roof, and blackbirds in the sycamore.

Even the connoisseur roe deer appreciate our organic leeks and kail in the dead of winter; their appreciation is not really to our liking, we must confess…

OUR GOOD ENVIRONMENTAL PRACTICE AT SHENVAL B&B

BESIDE BEING MEMBERS OF THE HIGHLANDS AND ISLANDS ORGANIC ASSOCIATION , WHEN AND WHERE PRACTICABLE, WE:

• Strive to use only organic, locally sourced, food and produce as described in our Cuisine page
• Organically grow some of our own food
• Systematically recycle and compost all waste
• Harvest rainwater
• Use fully biodegradable household cleaning and washing products
• Use low energy bulbs and renew any obsolete household appliances with class A energy-saving equipment
• Have thoroughly insulated and double-glazed our house, thereby reducing our fuel consumption
• Now use biomass (wood pellets boiler stove) for our central heating and hot water needs
• Only make essential car journeys
• Encourage our visitors to use local public transport and to engage in low environmental impact, green tourism and ecotourism activities such as walking, canoeing and cycling as highlighted in our Loch Ness and Activities pages
• Contribute to raise our visitors’ awareness of local environmental issues
• Systematically pick up other uncaring walkers’ rubbish when rambling and hillwalking.    

NATURE RESERVES AND CONSERVATION PROJECTS NEAR SHENVAL B&B

Shenval is blessed with the close proximity of:

• Open moorland, lochs and hills just above the hamlet.
• The Corrimony RSPB (Royal Society For The Protection of Birds) Reserve (a mere one-hour walk’s away, with route starting on our doorstep).
• The stunningly beautiful and atmospheric Glen Affric National Nature Reserve with its unique Caledonian Pine Forest and joint Forestry Commission Scotland and Trees for Life conservation projects.
• The rich biodiversity of Glen Strathfarrar.
• Abriachan Community Woodland, above Loch Ness.
• Craigmonie Community Woodland, near Loch Ness.