THEY were the brainchild of Scotland’s most famous naturalist and conservationist, John Muir.
Now work is underway to establish more National Parks in his homeland, with a key conference taking place to discuss the progress made in the effort to bring them into being.
Muir, who was born in Dunbar, moved with his family to a Wisconsin farm in 1849 and became known as the “Father of the National Parks,” in the United States, where he is regarded as being almost singlehandedly responsible for the safeguarding of such stunning habitats as Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks.
At present in Scotland, there are two national parks - Loch Lomond and The Trossachs, which was created in 2002, and the Cairngorms National Park, which was formed in 2003.
John Muir: Father of ecology whose love of great outdoors was formed in Dunbar
Unlike those of other countries, the Scottish parks are not uninhabited state-owned land, with much of the land in fact in private ownership, with people continuing to live and work on it and so, the areas are managed landscapes which are protected and conserved via their designated status.
Now The Scottish Campaign for National Parks (SCNP) is gearing up for a conference to be held in Stirling on Friday, April 20, being held to discuss progress in the establishment of more parks and to “learn lessons” from the present parks.
Strong community-led proposals have emerged for two new National Parks in the South of Scotland, and the possibility of a new Argyll and Islands National Park has been proposed by Argyll & Bute Council as part of a recent local development plan consultation exercise.
Speakers at the conference will include Dame Barbara Kelly, President of the Galloway National Park Association and Jane Bower from the Campaign for a Scottish Borders National Park, who will both outline the cases for new National Parks in the South of Scotland.
John Muir: Father of ecology whose love of great outdoors was formed in Dunbar
Grant Moir, Chief Executive of the Cairngorms National Park Authority, will also give a presentation on the work of the existing two National Parks and highlight some lessons for prospective new National Parks.
Ross Anderson, Chairman of the SCNP, said: ‘’I am greatly encouraged by the momentum that is gathering pace at grassroots level to grow the family of National Parks in Scotland, to ensure the natural beauty of landscapes in more parts of the country receive the international recognition and protection they richly deserve while providing a much needed economic boost to fragile rural economies.’
’’Sadly, Scotland is still near the bottom of the world league when it comes to recognising its special natural heritage qualities through the designation of National Parks, yet consumer research confirms we have some of the best wild scenery on the planet.’’
He added:’’Scotland would do well to follow the refreshing lead of the of Chilean Government, which recently designated five new National Parks, providing a massive boost to the country’s economy and conservation efforts. This demonstrates that the modest costs involved in designating more National Parks in Scotland would pay rich dividends and position the country much more strongly on the world stage.’’
Born in 1838, Muir's love of nature began in his homeland and developed in the States, where he emigrated with his family. In adulthood, he began convincing the US government to adopt a forest conservation policy.
John Muir: Father of ecology whose love of great outdoors was formed in Dunbar
In 1903, he took a famed three-day camping trip with President Teddy Roosevelt in Yosemite Valley, where he argued that it would be an incalculable loss if such "temples of nature" were to be lost to hunting, mining and logging. The President returned to Washington and began to argue that America's wilderness must belong to the public and be staunchly protected by the laws of the land.
The SCNP event is to be held in the Smith Art Gallery & Museum, Dumbarton Road, Stirling between 10.00am and 4.00pm on Friday 20 April.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel