The Scottish Campaign for National Parks (I sit on their Executive Committee) has published its report on Tourism and Future National Parks in Scotland, see SCNP press release for tourism report 16.03.16 This follows on from http://www.scnp.org.uk/News/Docs/2013/Unfinished-Business-a-national-parks-strategy-for-scotland.pdf While the purpose of Parkswatchscotland is primarily to scrutinise our existing National Parks, I would hope that…
When I was out on Monday on west Loch Lomondside I was struck by the number of cyclists. It was a lovely sunny day and lots of people were out on the main National Cycle route. Get the West Highland Line to Tarbert and cycle back to Glasgow or Dumbarton- a great day out. …
I have long wondered why Scottish Land and Estates, the organisation representing landowners, was so vocal in its support for camping bye-laws. After all Forestry Commission Scotland is by far the largest landowner in the National Park and the voluntary sector, including the Woodland Trust, NTS, RSPB and Royal Scottish Forestry Society also own sizeable…
After a morning looking around west Loch Lomond (to be covered in future posts) I attended today’s LLTNPA Board Meeting as an observer with Peter and Mary Jack from the Loch Lomond Association. A member of Buchanan Community Council had also turned up to see how the Board operates. In governance terms the March meeting…
The CNPA have responded to the media coverage of the mountain hare cull http://cairngorms.co.uk/mountain-hare-cull-statement/ The response is quite predictable – as a member of staff the Director of Conservation was not in a position to launch the CNPA in new directions – but very sad. It demonstrates some of what is wrong with so-called conservation…
There has been some excellent coverage today of the mass killing of hares in the Cairngorms National Park by Rob Edwards http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/14340402.Outrage_of_landowners_mass_killing_of_mountain_hares/ Raptor Persecution Scotland https://raptorpersecutionscotland.wordpress.com/2016/03/13/more-mountain-hares-massacred-in-cairngorms-national-park/ and Mark Avery http://markavery.info/2016/03/13/mountain-mountain-hares/ I am delighted that some of the commentators are now asking why this practice is taking place in a National Park which was set up…
In the last week I have come across a couple of obituaries of Tom Hunter, who died in February, and whose idea of a long distance walking route from Glasgow north led to the creation of the West Highland Way http://www.milngavieherald.co.uk/news/local-headlines/in-memory-of-tom-hunter-creator-of-the-west-highland-way-path-1-4061152 and http://www.heraldscotland.com/opinion/14329809.Tom_Hunter/ Its worth quoting an extract from the Herald “In those days,…
I welcome the creation of parkswatchscotland because our National Parks are so important for outdoor recreation and they are not always getting matters right. Every item in this briefing on outdoor recreation issues for the Scottish Parliament elections is relevant to National Parks and some concern them directly. Briefing by Dave Morris This…
I was delighted to see early on Sunday morning on my way to climb on Beinn Udlaidh that the abandoned car that has been lying off the road south of Inverarnan has been lifted – five months after I asked the Park what they were doing about it https://parkswatchscotland.co.uk/2016/02/17/litter-a-mote-in-the-eye-of-the-national-park-authority/ I wish I could claim…
Among the papers for the LLTNP Board meeting on 14th March is a letter from Aileen McLeod, Minister for the Environment, setting out why she explained camping bye-laws. Agenda Item 8 – Appendix 1 – Ministerial Letter to Linda McKay – Byelaw decision It is essential reading. Beneath the spin about listening to a range…
Yesterday the Campaign for National Parks, which operates in England and Wales, launched a new blog and survey http://www.cnp.org.uk/blog/we-need-talk-about%E2%80%A6national-parks which I received via the Scottish Campaign for National Parks (I am on their Executive). What I like about the blog piece and the survey is that is aimed at everyone, residents and visitors, and that…
Another interesting revelation from the Board Strategy Group minutes see post 2nd March) is about the the failure of the LLTNP Authority to consider properly the cost of enforcing the proposed camping byelaws. At the meeting of 7th May: “FL (Fiona Logan, their then Chief Exec) advised that the patrol of East Loch Lomond has…
I attended the special Park Board Meeting that approved the camping bye-laws on 27th April 2015 along with three people from the Loch Lomond Association http://lochlomondassociation.co.uk/. The business took well under an hour and 5 minutes of this was taken up with telling the three of us we were not allowed to say anything –…
I was out ski touring on Saturday on Glas Tulaichean near the Spittal of Glen Shee which was brought into the Cairngorms National Park when its boundaries were extended in 2010. The south side of the river here is part of the Dalmunzie Estate which has an interesting history https://www.dalmunzieestate.com/history/ – its striking just how many…
Earlier this week Reforesting Scotland launched their new Guidance on Hutting http://www.thousandhuts.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/160215-Huts-Guidance-FINAL-screen-res.pdf. It was welcomed by Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Richard Lochhead, “Huts and hutting are a great way for people to enjoy Scotland’s outstanding natural environment, with all the benefits to health and wellbeing this can bring. I very much welcome the…
If you’ve been along the A82 in the last eight months, you might have seen this wrecked car just off the road south of Inverarnan. I first saw it last summer and when it was still there in October wrote to Gordon Watson, Chief Executive of the National Park Authority to ask if the Park…
Mike Wade, in an article in the Times on Saturday http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/uk/scotland/article4684602.ece has done a great service in showing that local communities are far from unified in their support for camping bye-laws. After quoting Stuart Fraser, of the Oak Tree Inn at Balmaha, which has been vocal in its support for the bye-laws, he quotes not just…
I went climbing in Coire an t-Sneachda yesterday, a good choice as winter conditions had survived the thaw and the real storm was some way south. The Coire Cas carpark was still windy though, with climbers putting goggles on before leaving the car and people huddling inside buildings. The slopes were stripped, not a chance…
Having spent much of the last year trying to persuade decision makers and through reasoned argument and evidence, I was appalled by the decision of Aileen McLeod, the Environment Minister to approve new camping byelaws for Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park. I very much admire Cameron McNeish, who had been trying to lobby quietly…