Reports

Published 2nd October 2024. Scottish Environment LINK report on the farming benefits of Scotland's National Parks.

Published 23rd September 2024. Scottish Environment LINK report on the socio-economic benefits of Scotland's National Parks.

In April 2013 SCNP and APRS published our landmark report ‘Unfinished Business’. This report called for the designation of more National Parks in Scotland, and proposed seven areas worthy of this accolade. The report looks at the wide range of environmental, social and economic benefits new National Parks would bring to Scotland.

Still Unfinished Business was published in 2018, prior to the 2021 Bute House Agreement and the Scottish Government’s commitment to at least one new National Park in Scotland by 2026. With this commitment we are going in the right direction, however we are not into ‘finished business’ quite yet.

This 2022 summary report welcomes the Scottish Government’s commitment to at least one new National Park within the current parliamentary term. The report looks at how new National Parks should be set in the context of National Strategy and the rationale supporting this.

National Parks care for the special qualities of an area’s landscape – the natural and cultural heritage of places and people. That is why Park Authorities put great effort into supporting environmentally sensitive farming practices in their areas.

A short paper that argues that having more National Parks in Scotland would encourage further volunteering in those areas. The paper estimates the economic value of volunteering and the benefits to the local area.

This review of the regional parks in Scotland was carried out during the summer of 2018 and aims to summarise their history, review their operation over the past 40 years and suggest what the future may hold.

This information note analyses house prices inside and out with National Parks in the UK, and discusses the likely impact of any new National Parks in Scotland on housing prices in those rural areas.

In 1982,Graham Barrow penned a summary of the debate over National Parks in Scotland, which had taken place over the previous century. Nearly 40 years on, we have our first two National Parks, Graham is Vice-Chairman of SCNP, and he recently rediscovered the report.

Commissioned by Dumfries and Galloway Council and written by Southern Uplands Partnership in 2016, this report looks at the suitability of the area for National Park status.

This report, published in 2019 gives the socio-economic case for a new National Park in Galloway. It looks at how a new National Park will influence the local economy and the people who live and work in the area.

This 2017 evaluation of a new National Park in the Scottish Borders provides a basis for discussion by stakeholders, and asks questions about what National Park status would mean for the area

A survey of marketing practices and opinions of accommodation providers in the Teviot Valleys Special Landscape Area, Scottish Borders

A 2016 report reviewing the positive impact of more National Parks in Scotland on the visitor economy of the country, with examples drawn from the UK and internationally.

A summary of different governance models for any new National Parks in Scotland with international case studies from France, England & Wales. The report reviews the types of governance and staffing that may be applicable for different sizes of national park.

This report 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 UK, Norway, Poland, New Zealand and North America.