240913Paper6 Cairngorms Nature Action Plan

Cairngorms Nation­al Park Author­ity Ugh­dar­ras Pàirc Nàiseanta a’ Mhon­aidh Ruaidh Form­al Board Paper 6 13 Septem­ber 2024 Page 1 of 4

For decision Title: Cairngorms Nature Action Plan 2019 – 2024 final report Pre­pared by: Andy Ford, Dir­ect­or of Nature and Cli­mate Change

Stra­tegic context

1. The Cairngorms Nature Action Plan is one of the four key strategies which sup­port deliv­ery of the Nation­al Park Part­ner­ship Plan. It is the primary deliv­ery mech­an­ism for the out­come of ​‘A car­bon neg­at­ive and biod­iversity rich Nation­al Park with bet­ter func­tion­ing, bet­ter con­nec­ted and more resi­li­ent eco­sys­tems and all asso­ci­ated object­ives and targets.

2. The Cairngorms Nature Action Plan provides the struc­tur­al frame­work to guide the dir­ect and indir­ect deliv­ery of the nature theme as described in the cor­por­ate plan.

3. The Action Plan does not replace but rather com­ple­ments, sup­ports and builds on a wide range of nation­al strategies, policies and plans relat­ing to the envir­on­ment and land use, for example: Scot­tish Forestry Strategy, Scot­tish Biod­iversity Strategy, Wild Deer: A Nation­al Approach, Scotland’s Cli­mate Change Plan and River Basin Man­age­ment Plans.

Pur­pose

1. This paper presents the report detail­ing deliv­ery of pri­or­it­ies, actions and tar­gets in the Cairngorms Nature Action Plan 2019 – 2024, for approv­al pri­or to publication.

2. It con­siders the role of the Cairngorms Nature part­ner­ship as the key mech­an­ism dir­ect­ing and deliv­er­ing con­ser­va­tion in the Nation­al Park and the Nation­al Park Part­ner­ship Plan nature objectives.

Recom­mend­a­tions

1. The Board Is asked to: a) Note key achieve­ments of the part­ner­ship and deliv­ery against tar­gets b) Approve the pub­lic­a­tion of the report

Cairngorms Nation­al Park Author­ity Ugh­dar­ras Pàirc Nàiseanta a’ Mhon­aidh Ruaidh Form­al Board Paper 6 13 Septem­ber 2024 Page 2 of 4

Stra­tegic policy consideration

1. Board approved the Cairngorms Nature Action Plan 2019 – 2024 on 07 Decem­ber 2018 as the agreed pri­or­it­ies and object­ives for con­ser­va­tion work over the five-year peri­od and as the frame­work for the col­lab­or­at­ive actions neces­sary to deliv­er them.

Stake­hold­er engagement

1. The Cairngorms Nature Strategy Group com­prises a range of organ­isa­tions and land man­agers with an act­ive role in the deliv­ery of biod­iversity gain in the Nation­al Park. The group provides guid­ance to and over­sees the imple­ment­a­tion of the Cairngorms Nature Action Plan and wider partnership.

2. The final set of data, pro­gress against tar­gets and object­ives, out­line and con­tent of the report was reviewed and approved by the Strategy Group, before present­a­tion to Board for inform­al dis­cus­sion and com­ments in March 2024.

3. Cairngorms Nature part­ners have provided data annu­ally to estab­lish pro­gress against tar­gets, case stud­ies to high­light achieve­ments and con­trib­uted to the pro­duc­tion of the report as presented.

Stra­tegic risk management

1. Tar­gets for rap­tors in the Cairngorms Nature Action Plan have not been met. Col­lab­or­at­ive work­ing and part­ner­ship build­ing in pro­gress­ing, mon­it­or­ing and report­ing on this tar­get is a remedi­al tool in mit­ig­at­ing Stra­tegic Risk four: ​‘The Authority’s range of powers com­bined with stra­tegic part­ner­ships is insuf­fi­cient to deliv­er out­comes on wild­life crime’.

2. Les­sons learnt high­lighted in the report note there are factors out with the sphere of influ­ence of Cairngorms Nature which have an impact on deliv­ery and attain­ment of tar­gets. The stra­tegic part­ner­ship and col­lab­or­at­ive mon­it­or­ing and report­ing on tar­gets strengthens a com­mon under­stand­ing of these mul­tiple factors and key issues, mit­ig­at­ing Stra­tegic Risk 11: ​‘Repu­ta­tion­al dam­age may res­ult from unreal­ist­ic expect­a­tions of the Park Author­ity and part­ners can achieve in the face of sig­ni­fic­ant risks presen­ted by cli­mate change, spe­cies extinc­tion, flood man­age­ment and fire’.

Cairngorms Nation­al Park Author­ity Ugh­dar­ras Pàirc Nàiseanta a’ Mhon­aidh Ruaidh Form­al Board Paper 6 13 Septem­ber 2024 Page 3 of 4

Implic­a­tions

1. The Action Plan, Strategy Group and wider part­ner­ship are core ele­ments of deliv­ery of the Nation­al Park Part­ner­ship plan. The stra­tegic dir­ec­tion of Cairngorms Nature will remain as the primary mech­an­ism for con­ser­va­tion activ­ity in the Nation­al Park. The part­ner­ship and future action Plan will describe the activ­it­ies and col­lab­or­a­tion needed to deliv­er out­comes and object­ives in the Nation­al Park Plan and the Scot­tish Biod­iversity Strategy outcomes.

2. The report cel­eb­rates the col­lab­or­at­ive work­ing and pro­jects delivered by all those involved in Cairngorms Nature and biod­iversity gain in the Nation­al Park. The report cements the stra­tegic part­ner­ship and is an effect­ive means of reen­for­cing the core mes­sage that every­one can, and does, play a part in pro­tect­ing and enhan­cing the out­stand­ing nat­ur­al her­it­age of the Cairngorms.

Suc­cess measures

1. Sub­ject to approv­al by Board, the final report on deliv­ery of the Cairngorms Nature Action Plan 2019 – 2024 will be cir­cu­lated amongst the Cairngorms Nature Strategy Group in Septem­ber 2024 and sub­sequently to wider stake­hold­ers and partners.

2. Fur­ther com­mu­nic­a­tion and pub­lic­a­tion on the web­site will be reviewed in light of cur­rent spend­ing restric­tions on com­mu­nic­a­tions and engage­ment. A review of key achieve­ments and les­sons learnt will form part of the launch of the forth­com­ing Action Plan 2025 – 2030 and plans for Cairngorms Nature going forwards.

3. The Cairngorms Nature Strategy group and wider part­ner­ship will con­vene Decem­ber 2024 to review the strengths and suc­cesses of the part­ner­ship and pro­gress on devel­op­ing the Cairngorms Nature Action Plan 2025 – 2030. The draft aims, pri­or­it­ies and struc­ture will be dis­cussed by the Board mem­bers in Spring 2025 and come back to Board for approv­al later in the year.

Sup­port­ing information

1. Annex 1: Cairngorms Nature Action Plan 2019 – 2024
2. Annex 2: Cairngorms Nature Action Plan 2019 – 2024 Final report.

Cairngorms Nation­al Park Author­ity Ugh­dar­ras Pàirc Nàiseanta a’ Mhon­aidh Ruaidh Form­al Board Paper 6 13 Septem­ber 2024 Page 4 of 4

Andy Ford, Dir­ect­or of Nature and Cli­mate Change