New National Parks announcement welcome

John Muir Trust welcomes new National Parks announcement.

The John Muir Trust has welcomed the announcement by the Scottish Government that it will designate at least one new National Park by 2026, and commends the open, transparent and inclusive public consultation process that will take place over the next three weeks.

Mike Daniels, Director of Policy, said

We believe that new National Parks in the right place, with broad local support, can also help spread the benefits of tourism beyond the small cluster of photogenic hotspots into areas that are facing economic and social challenges.

We welcome the bottom-up, inclusive  approach of the consultation process, which invites the public to comment on criteria for deciding the location of new National Parks. It also opens a wider public debate on how existing and future National Parks can best serve society.

This debate we believe is crucial in the light of the climate and biodiversity crises and other pressures that have arisen since the start of the millennium, when the National Parks Act 2000 set out the core aims and priorities.

We look forward to engaging constructively with the Scottish Government to support changes needed to our existing National Parks to tackle climate change, improve biodiversity, manage visitor pressures effectively, and strengthen local economies.

See Mike's article in the Scotsman here.