A SCHEME to promote green tourism on the Norfolk Broads has been awarded almost half a million pounds of European funding.The money, 500,000 euros, which is more than �433,000, will be used to fund the Broads Authority's new tourism website, which is due to go live at the end of the month, as well as paying for a variety of tourism projects on the Broads.

A SCHEME to promote green tourism on the Norfolk Broads has been awarded almost half a million pounds of European funding.

The money, 500,000 euros, which is more than �433,000, will be used to fund the Broads Authority's new tourism website, which is due to go live at the end of the month, as well as paying for a variety of tourism projects on the Broads.

They include reviewing how to improve interpretation and visitor facilities between Ludham Bridge and How Hill, a conservation fund where visitors can contribute money to fund enhancement projects, an increase in the number of electric charging points on the waterways and the promotion of the green tourism business scheme.

Funding for the schemes comes from Sustainable Tourism in Estuary Parks (Step), part of the Interreg Two Seas programme, which is a strand of the European Regional Development Fund.

The Step project involves the Broads working in partnership with the Biesbosch National Park, in the Netherlands, and a protected area around Kruibeke, in the Schelde Estuary, Belgium.

It will be officially launched at an event on Tuesday, in Kruibeke, which will be attended by key Broads Authority staff and the chairman of the Broads Tourism Forum, Ian Russell.