Tackling the Nature and Climate Crises in the Cairngorms National Park

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By Andy Ford, Director of Nature and Climate Change at the Cairngorms National Park Authority

Photograph portrait of Andy Ford — Andy Ford Director of Nature and Climate Change at the Cairngorms National Park Authority (Cairngorms National Park Authority)

The way we manage our land plays a big part in tackling the twin biodiversity and climate crises. We are facing catastrophic biodiversity loss and are already seeing the very real impacts of climate change including species and habitat decline and the effects of reduced snow cover, droughts, floods and wildfires. We need transformative change at all levels of society and there will be significant barriers to making it happen.

But there is still time if we act now and act at speed and scale. National parks lead the way in demonstrating ‘the art of the possible’. They are showcases for people and nature thriving together – places that are richer in nature, mitigating for and adapting to climate change, supporting new rural economies and diverse, thriving communities.

To create these new and exciting places, we need a shared vision for the future. That vision, and the action we need to take to realise it, is described in the Cairngorms National Park Partnership Plan. The Partnership Plan is a plan for everyone in the Park, not just the Park Authority, describing how we will all work together to tackle the challenges ahead of us.

A man holding up an electronic tablet to someone in a large vehicle — People working on peatland restoration projects in the Cairngorms National Park (Photo: Ed Smith)

Almost 1,500 people helped shape the plan in a public consultation phase last year. In implementing the plan, people who live, work, and visit the National Park will be given the power to tackle the nature and climate emergencies and more than 100 partners, public bodies and communities will work together to help deliver activity over the next five years.

Unsurprisingly, the latest Partnership Plan (published in August 2022) is the most large-scale and ambitious plan ever proposed for the Cairngorms National Park. Every action and proposed outcome within it are seen through the lens of how we can tackle the twin crises with landscapes that have people at their heart.

By 2045 we will have created 35,000 ha of new woodland, restored 38,000 ha of peatland, re-naturalised our rivers and ensured at least 50 per cent of the National Park is managed principally for ecological restoration.

A man holding a clump of dripping Sphagnum Moss — Sphagnum Moss (Photo: Ed Smith)

Together, we’re making good progress. The Cairngorms National Park will reach net zero within just three years if we deliver on the new Partnership Plan targets. Independent carbon accounting specialists Small World Consulting were commissioned by all 15 UK national parks to produce detailed greenhouse gas emissions assessments. The report published in November 2022 shows that the Cairngorms National Park, with fewer residents and visitors and far more capacity for carbon storage compared to other UK national parks, could reach net zero as soon as 2025 by meeting the targets set out in the Partnership Plan. From there, the National Park will continue to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, helping Scotland and the UK meet their 2045 and 2050 targets.

The work needed to tackle the nature and climate crises requires transformative change at speed and scale. Change can be scary, and it is critically important that people are part of it. The Cairngorms National Park is made up of many cultural landscapes, the product of centuries of management to meet the needs of society. As societal needs have changed, land and land managers in National Park will step up to the new challenge. The Cairngorms National Park will still be made up of many cultural landscapes which more and more, are becoming new and different cultural landscapes. Still landscapes that are shaped by and support the people in the Park and are increasingly looking to the generations to come too. There will be opportunities to innovate and demonstrate not just what future landscapes will look like but also what a future rural economy and culture will look like - green jobs and nature-based economies.

Two people either side of a small creek measuring its depth in the middle of some peatland — people working on peatland restoration projects in the Cairngorms National Park (Photo: Ed Smith)

All this work needs partnership and collaboration - ensuring restoration is part of land management and not an alternative to it – and that land still provides enjoyment for thousands of residents and visitors and benefits the local economy. The collaborative work will connect the dots between peatland, woodland, farmland, pollinator pathways and wetlands. It will protect rural jobs that are very much a part of the National Park way of life for many and will also bring local employment opportunities in ecology, conservation, deer management, fishing and with landowners and public agencies.

The work we are already doing through the Partnership Plan and the Cairngorms 2030 programme – from peatland restoration and woodland expansion to active travel and future farming – will all help raise awareness and support the changes required to get to a low-carbon future here in the Cairngorms National Park and across the country. But success rests on everyone working together. We can only do this in partnership with farmers, land managers and workers, communities, local businesses, National Park residents and visitors.

If you’d like to play a part in something transformational, you can find out how you can get involved here.