Liz Roberts - Regional Director of The National Trust Network, Midlands Sustainable tourism: policy from practice at the National Trust Sustainable tourism is the practice at the National Trust. Challenging question: 'Why bother'? 'Everyone has equal access to our heritage'. - remove barriers. Heritage - social responsibility and source of social cohesion. people in popular tourist destinations suffer when precious resources, such as water, are diverted from agriculture into hotel swimming pools. Get thrown out of homes for new developments. Can heritage and culture make a difference to people's lives? Trust believes maintaining access to the coast should accommodate natural change. Only supports interference with natural coastal processes where it believes there is an overriding benefit to society in social, economic or environmental terms. Coastal management decisions often impacted beyond their immediate location. The Trust: would actively promote public access to the coastal zone, subject to conservation accepted the coast is dynamic and changing works with the natural processes of coastal erosion and accretion wherever possible. takes a long-term view and adopt or support flexible management solutions accepts that some habitats and species will be lost or replaced through natural processes attempts substitution of losses elsewhere. The Trust works with other managers, organisations and communities to share experience and knowledge, to secure beneficial outcomes, to promote solutions to ensure a shared understanding 28 ongoing schemes.