Lochaber National Park Bid

Aim

A National Park in Lochaber could protect our Natural and Cultural heritage. Help us to gauge local interest and find out what is important.

The Campaign

We are working hard to share information about the Scottish Government’s pledge to create a new National Park in Scotland by Spring, 2026.

We want to generate a discussion about the potential for a National Park so that residents can make an informed decision when the time comes.

We require professional support for this and we are seeking advice from various people with direct experience of designing National Park nominations and delivering public events and consultations. This will incur costs and require time to deliver surveys, expand our reach beyond online platforms, produce professional marketing materials and hire venues. We estimate these costs at £3000

Who ‘We’ are

The Lochaber National Park Working Group are a group of local volunteers who live and work in the Lochaber area. We believe that a National Park designation within Lochaber would support the considerable pressures we face while providing significant financial resources for environmental and community-led projects. 

The Scottish Government has committed to establishing at least one new National Park in the lifetime of this parliament, by spring 2026. We believe Lochaber could be on the short list and we are developing our process to determine public opinion. If support can be suitably demonstrated a nomination for Lochaber as a candidate would be taken forward with Scottish Ministers.

What are the potential benefits and negatives of becoming a National Park? 

We believe Lochaber is essentially a National Park in all-but-name and does not receive the meaningful support and benefits the area requires to manage significant and growing pressures. 

With the funding that the current National Parks receive we could:

• Address many of the issues faced in Lochaber, facilitate greater local control and expand local employment opportunities.
• Establish a joined-up approach to managing Lochaber’s unique natural environment that so many of us value, while more effectively addressing the significant challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss.
• Empower community groups to continue to develop and increase their assets and improve the quality of life for the people within them. 
• Promote our unique cultural heritage, including the Gaelic language across the region. 
• Establish a fully-funded and well-resourced ranger service to manage visitor pressures and provide information and education for locals and visitors across Lochaber. 
• Develop fully serviced parking areas for motorhomes & campervans, working with local landowners and communities. 
• Improve and extend footpath and cycle networks, for all abilities, to get more people using active travel, improving health, and reducing the number of cars on our roads. 
• Support local industry to achieve their environmental targets, highlighting the importance for our local communities.
• Enhance our local food production and develop more ways to keep locally produced food available within Lochaber.

Understandably, there are concerns that a National Park could have a negative impact on the area:

• Would a National Park cause an increase in house prices, making it harder for locals to get on the property ladder?
• Do National Parks put additional restrictions on farming and crofting?
• Will a National Park in Lochaber attract more second homeowners?
• Will a National Park increase the number of tourists visiting the area?
• Would a National Park prevent industrial growth and reduce employment prospects in the area.
• Would a National Park “re-wild” everything, leaving us with a rank, inaccessible landscape?

A well-designed National Park plan would identify and tackle these issues for the people of Lochaber. 

We need additional resources to respond to valid concerns and to promote information on the current opportunities to as wide an audience as possible and gauge public opinion.

If you share our vision and want to see a National Park in Lochaber, please consider donating to our campaign and sharing with a friend. Every contribution counts and will help us to achieve our goal.

                             Thank you in advance for your support.

This project closed unsuccessfully on 14th December 2023