APRS has been campaigning for the careful stewardship of the Nation’s landscapes for a century and for National Parks in Scotland for over 80 years. Our most recent focus was on the Natural Environment Bill as it was drafted and scrutinised by the Scottish Parliament and which amended National Park legislation.
Still working hard on National Parks
The Natural Environment (Scotland) Act, Unfinished Business and the Mayhew Committee…
Read moreLatest news on protected landscapes
The Natural Environment Scotland Act brings in a few new pieces of legislation related to National Parks. Having worked on the Bill, Nikki Sinclair takes us through the new legislation and what it may mean for our National Parks and the potential for new National Parks.
Since the cancellation of the process to designate a new National Park in Galloway we have been busy taking the opportunity of the Natural Environment Bill to improve on the process of designation, as well as to make existing National Parks more effective.
In this blog Kat reflects on the campaign to bring down the planned new National Park in Galloway and how the misinformation that was at the heart of it was incorporated into Government decision making.
Scottish Environment LINK, Scotland’s coalition of Environment Charities, has published a report on the Socio-Economic Benefits of National Parks. This report draws on research from Scotland’s two existing National Parks as well as those in the rest of the UK and abroad.
Unfinished Business
What we have learned from the five areas hoping to become National Parks.
More information coming soon.
The Proposals
Resources coming soon.
The Mayhew committee
Our new Mayhew committee, named in memory of John Mayhew, a much missed advocate for National Parks and Scotland’s Landscapes and a previous Director of APRS, will incorporate expertise from both APRS’s membership/supporters and from members of SCNP (the Scottish Campaign for National Parks). SCNP was initially conceived as an APRS subcommittee and has had various incarnations since, existing as a separate organisation from the 1980s until 2026. More information coming soon.
Get Involved!
If you love National Parks and other protected landscapes and want to see more of them please support our campaign by joining APRS. Please also email or write to your MSPs to let them know your views.
Our Director Kat Jones has been walking around the linked Green Belts in 10 local authority areas around Glasgow. In her weekends and days off she has managed 27 separate sections totalling over 300km. This page brings together all her blogs of the walk, follow her adventures through bogs and landfill sites, beautiful countryside and the largest derelict site in Europe.
All the latest news and press releases from APRS
There are loads of ways you can get out and show your love for the countryside around you, and APRS is encouraging you to do just that!
The case for National Parks
Scotland’s landscapes rank amongst the best in the world in their richness, quality and diversity. We have wild mountains, pristine rivers and lochs, ancient forests and stunning coastline and islands, all rich in wildlife and history. Our landscapes enhance our quality of life and our well-being. They give us inspiration, refreshment and enjoyment. National Parks provide great opportunities for outdoor recreation, including walking recreation, including walking, cycling, canoeing and mountaineering. They are one of the main reasons why people visit Scotland, so they support important economic benefits through tourism, our largest industry. With landscapes of such quality you might expect Scotland to have several National Parks – the principal tool used across the world to safeguard and manage fine landscapes. However Scotland has only two.
There are reports below with more information about the benefits of National Parks.
Social and Economic Benefits of National Parks
This report, by Scottish Environment LINK, considers the socio-economic benefits of Scotland’s National Parks for businesses working within them.
Farming Benefits of National Parks
This report, by Scottish Environment LINK, considers the benefits of Scotland’s National Parks for farmers and land managers.
Unfinished Business – a National Parks Strategy for Scotland 2013
Unfinished Business is. report on the benefits of National Parks for Scotland and was written in 2013
National Parks – Frequently Asked Questions
The answers to all sorts of questions about National Parks: what they are, why Scotland should have more, where they should be, who would pay for them and many others
What are the benefits of a National Park for locals?
Since starting our campaign, local people from several areas highlighted in ‘Unfinished Business’, started campaigning for National Parks for their area. Here are some resources that could help communities looking at the possibility of National Park status for their area.
The Potential Socio-economic Impacts of a New National Park for Galloway
This report, published in 2019 gives the socio-economic case for a new National Park in Galloway. A new National Park could provide a significant stimulus to the local economy, attracting at least an estimated 250,000 to 500,000 new visits per year with £30 – £60 million of additional spending and supporting 700 to 1400 jobs. It would attract small businesses and create a more desirable place for people to live.
Feasibility study for a proposed Scottish Borders National Park
An independent evaluation of a potential National Park in the Scottish Borders to provide a basis for decision makers – commissioned by the Campaign for a Scottish Borders National Park.
A Galloway National Park?
This report, commissioned by Dumfries and Galloway Council, is a feasibility study into the potential for a National park in Galloway.
Our Topic Reports
We’ve published a series of topic reports on aspects of the case for more National Parks. We argue that creating more National Parks could provide major economic and tourism boosts to several fragile rural areas in Scotland, pointing to the success of rural areas in other countries where National Parks have played a major role in stemming rural depopulation and providing a range of job opportunities. The reports also cover benefits for increased volunteering and potential governance models.
The Socio-economic Benefits of New National Park Designations in Scotland
This paper discusses the positive socio-economic impacts that new National Park designations could have on specific rural areas in Scotland. It refers to research in the rest of the UK, in Norway, Poland, New Zealand and North America, where a variety of studies have taken place regarding the socio-economic impacts of National Parks on their local areas.
Tourism and the Future of National Parks in Scotland
A paper reviewing the postive impact that having more National Parks in Scotland could have on the visitor economy of the country. The way that other countries with more national parks than Scotland use this to promote tourism is cited.
Future National Parks: Possible Governance Models
A summary of some different governance models for any new National Parks in Scotland with international case studies from France, England, Wales. The paper reviews the types of governance and staffing that may be applicable for different sizes of national park.
Volunteering and National Parks in Scotland
This report reviews how more National Parks in Scotland could generate an increase in volunteering – thereby benefiting the local economy, the environment and the wellbeing of volunteering.
Support for Farming in National Parks
This briefing written in 2019 gives examples of how National Parks are supporting farming and the benefits of National Parks to farming
New National Parks for Scotland – Next Steps 2022
Scottish National Parks Strategy Project statement welcoming the Scottish Government’s new commitment and proposing what needs to happen next
What is a National Park?
‘National Park’ is the leading internationally-recognised designation for places of the highest national importance for natural or cultural heritage, including landscape, wildlife and recreation. Many Parks are truly wild; others, as in Scotland, are wholly or partly inhabited, working landscapes. They stand proudly alongside world-renowned places such as Jotunheimen in Norway, Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador, Cradle Mountain in Tasmania, the Karakoram in Pakistan and Yosemite in the USA.
What Benefits do National Parks Bring to Scotland?
National Parks bring many environmental, social and economic benefits to local residents, visitors and to Scotland as a whole. They provide a clear focus on a particular place, mechanisms to stimulate and co-ordinate positive conservation management, and additional resources to reflect its importance to the nation. National Parks benefit from an agreed plan designed to safeguard the area’s special qualities for future generations whilst managing tourism, transport, energy, agriculture, forestry and fishing in integrated and positive ways. They can inspire pride and passion amongst local people and visitors.
The Scottish Government provides national funding to sustain the communities in and around National Parks, encouraging jobs which support and look after these special places and their ways of life. The Parks bring visitors to remote areas, benefit tourism and other land-use interests, and generate new commercial and marketing opportunities. National Parks supplement and add value to existing designations rather than duplicate or replace them. The designation is permanent; where other arrangements may come and go, National Parks are rarely abolished.
The Story of the Campaign for National Parks
APRS and SCNP have been campaigning for over 60 years for National Parks for Scotland. There is more information about this in the resources below.
Summary of National Parks Policy in Scotland
This history of National Parks was originally Section 2 of ‘Unfinished Business’ the manifesto for National Parks set out by APRS and SCNP in 2012
The Story of National Parks Policy in Scotland
If you are interested in the story of National Parks Policy in Scotland you can find an archive of reports, and other documents here: