About Nature
Nature
The interaction between people and nature is central to addressing many of the challenges we face in the National Park and in society more generally. There is a need to find solutions to the climate emergency and biodiversity crisis that have nature at their heart.
As the UK’s largest protected area – home to one quarter of the UK’s rare and endangered species – the Cairngorms should be a rural exemplar of this approach, and in this section we identify a range of measures to conserve and enhance nature in the National Park. This means addressing a number of significant land use and ecological issues over the next 25 years that will continue to have positive effects in the National Park for the next 200 years.
We do not pretend that this process will be easy. Achieving the kind of systemic change we are talking about will require a massive collective effort across all areas of society. We need to ensure that this takes place as part of a just transition, supporting people in different sectors to both take new opportunities and share traditional skills that will be needed to deliver this plan. We have set out a range of measures to support people and jobs across the National Park in the People and Place sections of this plan, and we believe that there will be significant opportunities over the next 25 years for all those currently involved in land management. Alongside this, additional jobs will be created in areas such as peatland restoration, river restoration, species management and habitat enhancement.
There is also a need to base our approach on the best available data and to adapt as we proceed to ensure we are delivering the long-term targets set out in the plan. We have set out a series of targets and indicators alongside each objective and we will be reporting on these on an ongoing basis, tracking our progress and informing future decision-making.
Outcome for Nature
What does that look like?
Moorland is more diverse
Moorland is more structurally diverse, providing a greater range of habitats for plants, insects, birds and mammals, and supporting a thriving rural economy.
Woodland is expanding
Woodlands are larger and more natural, delivering benefits for biodiversity, carbon storage, water quality and flood mitigation.
Peatlands are restored
Thousands of hectares of peatland have been restored, trapping CO2, aiding species recovery, improving water quality and reducing
flooding risk.
Rivers are reconnected
Rivers have been restored and
reconnected to create thriving wetlands and floodplains, helping mitigate the impacts of climate change.
Species are recovering
Species are recovering within a network of connected habitats and are less reliant on targeted conservation activity.
Farming is carbon neutral
Farming is carbon neutral or carbon negative, helping combat climate change, enhance species diversity and provide a sustainable source
of food
