CAIRNGORMS LOC­AL OUT­DOOR ACCESS FOR­UM PAPER 1 20^th June 2019

CAIRNGORMS LOC­AL OUT­DOOR ACCESS FORUM

Title: Pro­mot­ing ​“Tread Lightly” in the Nation­al Park

Pre­pared by: Adam Streeter-Smith, Out­door Access Officer

Pur­pose: To update mem­bers on the work under­taken to date towards pro­mot­ing respons­ible access in the Park and seek views on draft mater­i­als and dog friendly messaging

Advice Sought

1. Do LOAF mem­bers have any com­ments on the draft ​“tread lightly” con­cer­tina leaflet?

2. Who should the tar­get audi­ence be for a dog friendly Cairngorms campaign?

3. What are the key mes­sages we should be pro­mot­ing for a dog friendly Cairngorms campaign?

Back­ground

Tread Lightly

1. The Park Author­ity has a duty to pro­mote the Scot­tish Out­door Access Code. ​“Tread Lightly” is the main cam­paign by which the Park Author­ity and its part­ners, Ranger Ser­vices, Vis­it Cairngorms and land man­agers, pro­mote key mes­sages on what the exer­cise of respons­ible access looks like in the Park. Developed and run­ning since 2011 through con­sulta­tion with the LOAF, Ranger Ser­vices and oth­er part­ners, it seeks to set a wel­com­ing and inform­at­ive approach to encour­aging respons­ible access. The key mes­sages in ​“tread lightly” agreed by the LOAF, ranger ser­vices and key part­ners at the end of 2018 are:

• Respons­ible dog walking
• Camp­fires
• Out­door cooking
• Bik­ing and:
• Lit­ter.

1. To pro­mote these mes­sages the Park Author­ity is devel­op­ing a revised con­cer­tina leaf­let, a new leaf­let for Loc­al Inform­a­tion Centres, flash cards for use on social media and high fire risk posters for point of sale locations.

Tread Lightly – con­cer­tina leaflet

1. Since the last LOAF meet­ing in Novem­ber 2018 out­door access staff have been work­ing closely with rangers and oth­er part­ners includ­ing SNH, Forestry and Land Scot­land and Devel­op­ing Moun­tain Bik­ing in Scot­land to refine the key mes­sages in the leaf­let (see annex 1) so that they:

• Rein­force the fact that access rights come with responsibilities:
• That the Park being a spe­cial area requires an extra level of care and:
• Access takers need to fol­low loc­al advice.

1. It is crit­ic­al that we get the word­ing right in this leaf­let as it will form the basis for all com­mu­nic­a­tion on tread lightly in the Park.

2. Oth­er part­ners have been keen to incor­por­ate the state­ment ​“leave no trace” into the core mes­sages how­ever we have looked at this in detail and feel strongly that it shouldn’t be included because:

• It has dir­ect con­flicts with the key mes­sages in SOAC namely that LNT states you should min­im­ise camp­fire impacts and does not refer to high fire risk nor does it say you can’t have a fire in wood­lands, unlike SOAC:
• “leave no trace” is copyrighted.

Do LOAF mem­bers have any com­ments on the draft ​“tread lightly” con­cer­tina leaflet?

Dog Friendly Cairngorms

1. Whilst it is import­ant to stress that Park the mes­saging in ​“tread lightly” is designed to be wel­com­ing and enga­ging rather than force­ful and author­it­at­ive. Mem­bers of the pub­lic have high­lighted that to date all our mes­saging tar­get­ing dog walks has been about restric­tions rather than opportunities.

2. We would like to address this by devel­op­ing a dog friendly Cairngorms type cam­paign that would include:

• Pos­it­ive stor­ies about dog walk­ing in the Park:
• Peer group lead­ers pro­mot­ing their favour­ite walks:
• Some form of pledge:

• Images of people enjoy­ing dog walk­ing and

• A dog friendly walk logo for paths in the com­munity paths leaflet.

1. Oth­er nation­al parks and tour­ism devel­op­ment agen­cies have attemp­ted sim­il­ar cam­paigns for example Mol­lie the Col­lie at vis­it Pem­broke­shire and the Take the lead cam­paign in the South Downs Nation­al Park.

Who should the tar­get audi­ence be for a dog friendly Cairngorms cam­paign, should it be res­id­ents or visitors?

What are the key mes­sages we should be pro­mot­ing for a dog friendly Cairngorms campaign?

Next steps

1. Once final­ised the revised tread lightly con­cer­tina leaf­let will be pub­lished in late June early July.

2. Devel­op key activ­it­ies for the dog friendly Cairngorms campaign.

3. Con­tinu­ing activ­it­ies for the revised ​“tread lightly” cam­paign in 2019 will focus on:

• Main­tain­ing aware­ness of ​“tread lightly” through social media, pub­lic­a­tions and press includ­ing text on the wel­come leaflet:
• Joint media cam­paigns with key part­ners such as Scot­tish Nat­ur­al Her­it­age, Forestry Com­mis­sion Scot­land and the Cairngorms Busi­ness Partnership:
• “Point of sale” pro­mo­tion using posters, ban­ners and leaf­let hold­ers for example in gar­ages, out­door shops and ranger bases:
• Con­tin­ued sup­port for events such as ​“top dogs day out”:
• Train­ing for vis­it­or facing staff through ​“tread lightly” being fea­tured in the ​“make it yours” train­ing programme:
• Aware­ness rais­ing with key stake­hold­ers on the ground i.e. loc­al dog train­ers, com­mer­cial dog walk­ers and oth­ers such as Duke of Edin­burgh Award groups and Juni­or Rangers:
• Face to face con­tact with the pub­lic through the Ranger Services.

Adam Streeter-Smith Out­door Access Officer adamstreetersmith@​cairngorms.​co.​uk

Annex I revised leaflet

Tread Lightly in the Park

Cairngorms NATION­AL PARK Páirc Nàiseanta a’ Mhon­aidh Ruaidh

On foot, by bike, canoe and even horse back, the Cairngorms Nation­al Park is a great place to enjoy the out­doors. Know the code before you go and enjoy the out­doors respons­ibly by remem­ber­ing to:

• take respons­ib­il­ity for your own actions
• respect the interests of oth­er people
• care for your environment

A quarter of Scotland’s nat­ive forest

Scotland’s wild heart: an access­ible wilderness

Dogs

Take TheLead when enjoy­ing walk­ing your dog, as all of the forests, moun­tains, moor­lands and farm­land are a safe haven for rare and endangered birds. Play your part by keep­ing your dog under prop­er con­trol at all times and on a lead when asked — look out for loc­al signage.

Camp­fires Nev­er light fires near trees, in forests or on open moor­land. Please guard against all fires by fol­low­ing loc­al advice on where it is safe to have a camp­fire and mak­ing sure you leave no trace.

Dur­ing a high fire risk peri­od fires are not allowed any­where and barbeques may be restric­ted to cer­tain areas.

A strong­hold for Britain’s rare and endangered species

Out­door cook­ing Use a stove rather than an open fire. Place foil barbe­que trays on a sol­id, fire-res­ist­ant sur­face such as stones or shingle. Always take your barbe­que home.

The UK’s highest and most massive mountains

Bik­ing The forests of the Park are fant­ast­ic places to ride your bike but it pays to #Do TheRide­Th­ing and reduce the impact of your rid­ing on the trails. When advised advised avoid areas with ground nest­ing birds and help land man­agers by being care­ful not to dis­turb deer stalk­ing or forestry operations.

Enjoy Scotland’s Out­doors Respons­ibly Every­one has the right to be on most land and inland water provid­ing they act respons­ibly. Your access rights and respons­ib­il­it­ies are explained fully in the Scot­tish Out­door Access Code.

SCOT­TISH KNOW THE CODE BEFORE YOU GO OUT­DOOR ACCESS CODE out​door​ac​cess​-scot​land​.com

Lit­ter Lit­ter can spoil the view from a sum­mit or a night in a bothy and harm wild­life so #TakltHame. Why not do your bit for #Love­Cairngorms by tak­ing more out than you take in?