Cabinet Secretary Mairi Gougeon announces no new National Park for Scotland
Kat Jones, Director of Action to Protect Rural Scotland said:
“The news that Galloway is no longer under consideration to be Scotland’s next National Park should send a chill down the spine of everyone campaigning to make the world a better place. That a policy so popular with the public, and a designation with so much promise for the region, has been dropped, seemingly in response to a wellfunded media campaign spreading fear and misinformation, is a tragedy.
“But this is not just a tragedy for the people of Galloway and southern Ayrshire, who were set to benefit most from the National Park, this decision impoverishes all of us. National Parks are a recognition of the best of our Nation’s landscapes and this decision will impact Scotland’s standing as a country that values and protects its nature.
“This decision is a betrayal of the Galloway people who have worked tirelessly for seven years to bring well deserved, national recognition for the special landscapes of their area.
“If the Scottish Government can’t muster the energy to get a policy as popular, with as many co-benefits, and with such cross-party support, as a National Park over the line, how will we make the far more challenging changes we will need to stave off the nature and climate emergencies?”
John Thomson, Chair of the Scottish Campaign for National Parks
“It is deeply sad that misunderstandings about the role and impact of National Parks, together with intensive and often misleading lobbying, should have deprived Scotland's people of the third National Park that they were promised little more than three years ago. The country's two existing National Parks are already at the forefront in tackling the ever more pressing climate and biodiversity emergency, and in leading the way to the greener, healthier and happier wellbeing economy that the Scottish Government said it was pursuing.
“A new National Park for Scotland was supported by all political parties. The Ministers' decision represents a major failure to capitalise on Scotland's peerless combination of natural and cultural assets. For Galloway it is a huge missed opportunity to secure not only profile and resources but a stronger say over its future. All those with the region's interests truly at heart will now have to redouble their efforts to protect its precious landscapes and habitats from the many threats that they face".
Statement by GNPA
We are hugely disappointed that Scottish Government has abandoned its commitment to creating a new National Park in Galloway, South and East Ayrshire.
The Galloway National Park Association (GNPA) believes a National Park would have brought major investment to protect and enhance nature and the environment, attract sustainable jobs and businesses, and revive communities in economic decline.
Rob Lucas, chair of GNPA, said: “This is a big loss for our countryside and wildlife, for everyone living in the region and for our entire country.
“Our disappointment is not just for the loss of a National Park, but for the whole future of Galloway which has been badly let down once again.
“Galloway and its fragile environment, communities, and economy face huge challenges that must be overcome.
“After years of neglect and decline it must now fall to those who opposed a National Park to address these issues and to do so without the certainty and money the Park would have brought.
“Although the Minister has decided not to proceed, it is clear that the spotlight has rightly been shone on Galloway which is clearly ‘on the map’ for now at least.
“We hope that any new measures put forward, although no substitute for a National Park, will enable Galloway to come together and collectively develop a brighter future for this very special area.”Action to Protect Rural Scotland (APRS) is Scotland's Countryside Charity. They campaign to protect, enhance and promote Scotland’s countryside and rural landscapes for everyone’s benefit
The Scottish Campaign for National Parks (SCNP) is the national charity that campaigns to protect and promote the cause of and case for National Parks in Scotland.www.scnp.org.uk
Together APRS and SCNP have been campaigning for a new National Park for Scotland since 2013 when they published ‘Unfinished Business: a National Parks Strategy for Scotland. Galloway was one of the areas that thai document recommended to become a National Park.