Creation of national parks in Scotland can support farm businesses, environmental charity report finds

The creation of national parks can help “support viable farm businesses”, a report from an environment charity has found.

The study, by Scottish Environment Link, highlighted how farmers working in such areas can access “advice, support and funding” which is only available to businesses inside national parks.

It published its report as ministers consider whether a third national park for Scotland should be established in Dumfries and Galloway.

Rural affairs secretary Mairi Gougeon announced in July that the Scottish Government was “proposing to create a new national park for Scotland” in the area, with further work to be carried out.

However, the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) Scotland has branded the creation of a new national park “unacceptable” – with vice president Alasdair Macnab saying that 93% of its members backed that stance.

NFU Scotland fears designating a national park in Dumfries and Galloway “will add a further layer of bureaucracy” for farmers, and that tourism and visitor access will be prioritised over farming and crofting businesses.

Mr Macnab said: “Based on the experience of many farmers and crofters currently living and working in either the Cairngorms National Park or the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park, it is clear that existing parks have failed to make a positive contribution to farming and crofting.”

However, the Scottish Environment Link report insisted that “farming and sustainable land use is critical to achieving the aims of national parks”.

It added that national park authorities “employ dedicated and experienced staff to support and advise farmers and land managers within national parks, and allocate additional funding to support projects which both contribute to national park aims and support viable farm businesses”.

The report further stated: “Much of this advice, support and funding is only available to farmers within national parks”.

It also stressed that national parks are “democratically accountable” with farmers and land managers “regularly represented on their governance structures”.

Deborah Long, director of Scottish Environment Link, said: “In Scotland, national parks are intended to protect and enhance the special qualities of an area’s landscape, including both natural and cultural heritage.

“Scotland has very little true wilderness, and in many cases, those special qualities are a result of the way the land has been used and worked for many generations by farmers, crofters and other land managers.

“A key objective of our national parks, existing and future, is therefore to support farming and other food production.”

She continued: “Farmers working in both the Cairngorms, and Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Parks, have access to the same funds as farmers elsewhere, but on top of that, additional money is made available within them for work which supports the national parks’ aims.”

Kat Jones, director of Action to Protect Rural Scotland, said that by law a majority of members of a national park authority’s board “must be local, either as councillors, or as local residents elected directly” – adding that “this local control is what drives the success of our existing national parks, and will do for those designated in future, including in Galloway”.

Neil Picken, who has a 330 acre farm on the Solway coast – which could be included in a new Galloway national park – said it could bring investment to the area.

Mr Picken said: “We need to bring in well-paid jobs to stop our young people leaving. Schools are shutting for lack of pupils.

“We can sit back and do nothing but this is our golden chance to do something different.

“National parks are successful worldwide, we need to grasp this opportunity. We need to get people back on the land and in the villages.

He added: “It’s far better to engage than to oppose as there are so many possibilities for win-wins. We need people on the ground getting involved with making the policies and getting proactive to make a success of this opportunity.”