APRS Press Release - LINK Report on the socio-economic benefits of Scotland’s National Parks
A new report published today [1], commissioned by Scottish Environment LINK [2], considers the socio-economic benefits of Scotland’s National Parks for businesses working within them. Scottish Ministers are currently considering whether to designate Galloway as Scotland’s third National Park [3].
Scotland’s two existing National Parks are long-established, giving a good evidential basis for considering their economic impacts – Loch Lomond and the Trossachs was designated in 2002, and Cairngorms a year later. Between them they generate an annual economic benefit of more than £700m, which is more than 30 times the resource provided to them by the Scottish Government. While not all that economic impact will be directly associated with National Park status, studies in the US and Finland have shown that funding for National Parks has generated a 10 to 1 economic return on investment [4].
This outcome aligns with one of the four statutory aims for National Parks Authorities, established under the National Parks (Scotland) Act 2000 [5], which is to “promote sustainable economic and social development of the area’s communities”.
Combined, Scotland’s two National Parks directly provide around 250 jobs, across a diverse range of roles, many requiring professional qualifications and practical skills and experience. This broadens the employment options in rural areas and supports the new types of jobs and skills needed to tackle the climate and nature crises, including countryside rangers, planners, archaeologists and education officers.
Scotland’s National Park Authorities have been instrumental in supporting the development of affordable housing in their areas. 62% of homes built in Loch Lomond and The Trossachs between 2018 and 2022 were affordable, well above Scottish Ministers’ national target of 25%, and Cairngorms National Park has a target of 75% new homes being affordable by 2030.
Over a similar period [6] an average of 94.1% of planning applications were approved across Scotland: this was marginally exceeded by both National Park Authorities. The Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park Authority approved 94.3% of applications, while the Cairngorms National Park Authority approved 94.7%.
After twenty years, Scotland’s National Parks have broad backing from the public, too: 89% of those surveyed in 2022 supported a new National Park, with just 3% against [7].
Deborah Long, Director of Scottish Environment LINK, said:
“Scotland’s National Parks are all about supporting natural and cultural heritage, through conservation and restoration and through promoting responsible recreation and tourism. But they also, between them, bring significant sustainable economic and social development for communities in their areas. This should, we believe, be much more widely understood.
“With more than two decades of delivery across the Cairngorms and in Loch Lomond and the Trossachs, the results speak for themselves. Our two National Parks deliver substantial economic benefits through direct employment, responsible tourism and other indirect income boosts for businesses operating within them. Fundamentally, they also deliver higher proportions of affordable new housing.
“A National Park is an opportunity for local communities, who always form the majority on a National Park Authority, to deliver across all these objectives as a whole. This report helps make the case not just for the designation of Galloway, currently under consideration by Ministers, but for further National Parks elsewhere in Scotland in the future.”
Nikki Sinclair, National Parks Strategy Project Manager for the Scottish Campaign for National Parks [8] and for Action to Protect Rural Scotland [9], said:
“This report sets out how our existing National Parks deliver for people living and working in them, and for businesses based in them. It seems that residents of communities in iconic landscapes across Scotland have missed out, economically, over the two decades when not one new National Park was designated.
“Our National Parks do of course support the protection and restoration of nature, and this is likely to be the basis for the overwhelming public support for them. But the evidence is clear: the social and economic case for them is also strong."
Craig Mills, CEO of the Cairngorms Business Partnership [10], said:
"Being part of the Cairngorms National Park significantly boosts local businesses by leveraging the park's strong branding and reputation. We have found that this association helps our tourism businesses grow and attract new customers, bringing in valuable investment and development.
“A strong partnership has been built between our members and the National Park Authority as we work together to boost the appeal of the area and support the growth of the local economy."
Morven Taylor, Acting Chief Executive Officer of The Communities Housing Trust [11], said:
“The Communities Housing Trust have worked on many affordable housing projects within the Cairngorms National Park Authority area.
“The National Park has demonstrated its determination to provide affordable housing in the park and we support their target of 75% of new housing being for social rental, mid-market rental and other affordable categories that provide affordability in perpetuity.
“Our own projects have housing tenures including low-cost home ownership with a Rural Housing Burden title condition to protect future affordability in perpetuity, Rent to Buy homes and protected discounted self-build plots. We have worked in partnership with many local community organisations and businesses to establish their housing requirements. Creating opportunities to make the local communities thrive and remain vibrant is at the heart of our work."
Contact:
James Mackenzie: james.mackenzie@gmail.com / 07921 333 617
1. The report can be viewed here.
2. Scottish Environment LINK is the forum for Scotland’s voluntary environment community, with over 40 member bodies representing a broad spectrum of environmental interests with the common goal of contributing to a more environmentally sustainable society. See:
3. The announcement from Scottish Ministers is here:
https://www.gov.scot/news/new-national-park-is-proposed-in-galloway/
4. See Section 1 of the Act:
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2000/10/section/1
5. For those studies, see:
https://www.metsa.fi/en/economic-benefits-of-national-parks/
https://www.nps.gov/orgs/1207/budgetproposalfy24.htm
6. Data from 2019-23.
7. Research carried out by NatureScot:
8. 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. SCNP’s primary aim is to promote the protection, enhancement and enjoyment of nationally outstanding areas that are National Parks, or are appropriate to be designated as such, or are of sufficient merit to warrant special protection.
9: Action to Protect Rural Scotland campaigns to protect, enhance and promote Scotland’s countryside and rural landscapes for everyone’s benefit, and we support others to do the same.
10. The Cairngorms Business Partnership (CBP) is the Chamber of Commerce for businesses in the Cairngorms National Park. As an affiliate of the Scottish Chambers of Commerce it is the primary representative organisation and voice for the business community, and is funded by 400+ members from all corners and industries of the National Park.
https://www.cairngormschamber.com/
11. The Communities Housing Trust is the leading organisation for facilitating community-led housing in Scotland. They have worked on more than 120 community-led projects, often in remote, rural areas, to provide over 1,000 affordable homes and other amenities.https://www.chtrust.co.uk/