Cairngorms National Park Partnership Plan 2022-27 - Other - Page 4
Ministerial foreword
important to ensuring that we do the right things
at scale, taking the people who live, work in and
visit the Park with us.
Meeting the objectives within this Partnership Plan
will mean hard choices need to be made. There are
ambitious targets to increase the number of
affordable houses, improve active travel and
Lorna Slater MSP
public transport, reduce deer numbers and other
herbivores to enable woodland expansion, restore
and manage peatland to reduce carbon emissions,
The nature and climate crises require leadership and
and to have 50% of the National Park managed
action and this National Park Partnership Plan does
principally for ecosystem restoration, which will
both for the largest national park in the UK. We
bring wider landscape, biodiversity and people
have experienced significant changes since the last
benefits. This is not tinkering around the
Partnership Plan was published in 2017 and it was
edges, this is fundamental change that
heartening to see nearly 1,500 people take part in
we need to see and support.
the consultation on the future of this special place.
This Partnership Plan will focus delivery on our
The climate and nature crises are the biggest
shared ambition for a carbon negative and
challenges we face and it is critical that the
biodiversity-rich National Park with better
Cairngorms National Park is an exemplar in
functioning, better connected and more resilient
achieving net zero, developing nature-based
ecosystems, a place where people want to live,
solutions and helping Scotland meet its targets
work and visit, underpinned by a wellbeing
as part of a just transition.
economy that works for all the people of Scotland.
The Partnership Plan offers an opportunity to
It sets out an approach that listens to and involves
ensure that nature is at the heart of our decision-
communities in the National Park, giving us the best
making for the future. We need to deliver an
possible chance together to deliver a decarbonised
economy that supports people to thrive whilst also
and nature-based economy where people and
protecting and nurturing nature, not exploiting it for
nature thrive together.
short-term benefit and long-term harm.
National parks can do so much for Scotland and
This generation’s goal, and that of all governments,
this plan shows the ambition and the pragmatic
must be to leave things better than we found them
application that will be needed to meet the
for future generations to enjoy.
challenges of the next 25 years.
To address the climate and nature crises, we need
to act at unprecedented speed and scale across all
parts of society. That is why the Heritage
Horizons: Cairngorms 2030 programme is so
Lorna Slater MSP, Minister for Green Skills,
Circular Economy and Biodiversity
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