A FRESH plan is being launched for a third national park in Scotland to help protect landscape and wildlife.

The bid to create a national park in Galloway would potentially bring together the Galloway Forest Park, Scotland's first Dark Sky Park and the Galloway and Southern Ayrshire Biosphere.

The charity trying to breathe life into the proposal, the Galloway National Park Association, says the "superb coasts, southern Scotland’s largest tract of wild uplands, rich mosaic of farmland and amazing wildlife make it "easy" to see why the potential to create a National Park is there.

The wildlife includes the Galloway's goats, with some herds dating back hundreds of years to the days of Robert the Bruce.

In a ‘mission statement’, the association said: “There is a growing case to show that the development of more national parks could play a crucial role in the future of our rural areas, and we believe that Galloway is a perfect candidate for designation. We all know that Galloway is a very special place. Southwest Scotland has a unique story and a distinctive character, distilled by centuries of migration, trade and conflict.

“There are many reasons why we should consider Galloway as a national park."

The bid is running in parallel to a proposal for a national park in the Borders around an area covering Cheviot, Teviot and Liddesdale.

The country’s two national parks are Loch Lomond and the Trossachs, which was created in 2002, and the Cairngorms, established in 2003.

Sir Alex Fergusson, the former Scottish Parliament presiding officer, and MSP and long-term supporter of national parks and president of the Scottish Campaign for National Parks, is due to present today's launch at Loch Ken in Dumfries and Galloway.

He said: “Scotland gave the concept of National Parks to the world, yet, with only two parks designated in the past 18 years since the National Parks Act was passed by the Scottish Parliament, we lag behind both England and Wales in terms of the extent of our parks.

"With three National Parks just over the border and none in the south of Scotland I believe it is time that this area is given the recognition it deserves.”

Dame Barbara Kelly, President of the Galloway National Park Association, said: “We want to meet communities and local organisations to start a conversation about Galloway’s future.

"We want to find out if people agree with us that a National Park could help improve the fortunes of Galloway. This is a good moment to trigger a discussion on the concept of a National Park in Galloway and its possible powers, responsibilities and boundaries."

But the park plan is expected to come up against some obstacles.

The Scottish Government has said that any new parks would incur significant costs and that at a time of pressure on public finances it would not be right to raise expectations.

It said that instead it would focus on existing parks to "continue their track record of success".

Both national parks are quite large but together cover only 7.2 per cent of the Scotland’s land area, compared with 9.3 per cent of England which has 10 parks and 19.9 per cent of of Wales which has three parks.

Scotland ranks near the bottom of the world league in terms of its number of national parks.

A 2014 study shows that Northumberland National Park, one of the quietest in England, attracts 1.5 million visitors a year who jointly spend £190 million. The Cairngorm National Park also with 1.5 million visitors a year generated £185 million of visitor spend.

By comparison the Galloway Forest Park in its 2009 Dark Sky Park Application estimated visitor numbers at just over 0.85 million and its value to the region, excluding forestry, was £11 million a year.