Corporate Plan 2023-27

Cor­por­ate Plan 2023 – 27 Cairngorms Nation­al Park Pàirc Nàiseanta a’ Mhon­aidh Ruaidh

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Con­tents Fore­word 3 Intro­duc­tion 6 Stra­tegic con­text 7 Cor­por­ate plan deliv­ery 15 Nature 17 People 32 Place 44 Cor­por­ate ser­vices and com­mu­nic­a­tions 55 Key part­ner­ships and mech­an­isms 61 Out­line budget 2023 – 27 62

This doc­u­ment is avail­able in oth­er formats on request. Please con­tact the Cairngorms Nation­al Park Author­ity on +44 (0) 1479 873 535 or go to cairngorms​.co​.uk

Cov­er image of Peat­land Action team in the field © Ed Smith. Con­tents image of a view from Cre­ag Chòin­nich © Vis­itScot­land / Jak­ub Iwanicki.

© Cairngorms Nation­al Park Author­ity, 2023. All rights reserved.

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Fore­word 2023 marks the 20^th anniversary of the Cairngorms Nation­al Park. So much has changed over the last 20 years but through­out that time the Park Author­ity has been guided by the Nation­al Park aims and a vis­ion to see people and nature thrive together.

That is what this Cor­por­ate Plan is about. The Nation­al Park Part­ner­ship Plan sets out our col­lect­ive ambi­tion to 2045 and this plan sets out what the Park Author­ity will deliv­er over the next four years.

At its core is the lead­er­ship that the Park Author­ity can provide on issues like the nature and cli­mate crisis, afford­able hous­ing and act­ive travel. We need to be an exem­plar of what can be achieved when we focus on a spe­cif­ic place and not look at things in silos.

The Park Author­ity has been instru­ment­al in secur­ing mil­lions of pounds of invest­ment over the last 20 years and this Cor­por­ate Plan will drive fur­ther invest­ment across our three themes of Nature, People and Place.

The plan also gives clar­ity and dir­ec­tion for the fant­ast­ic staff that work for the Park Author­ity, who provide on-the-ground sup­port to dozens of pro­jects across the Nation­al Park and help deliv­er our agreed priorities.

In Decem­ber 2023 we will find out if we have been suc­cess­ful in secur­ing Lot­tery fund­ing for the deliv­ery phase of our Cairngorms 2030 pro­gramme. This five- year, £43 mil­lion pro­gramme will put the power to tackle the nature and cli­mate crisis in the hands of the people of the Nation­al Park, bene­fit­ting people’s health and well­being, devel­op­ing sus­tain­able trans­port solu­tions and enhan­cing nature. This is the type of pro­gramme that the Park Author­ity was set up to devel­op and deliv­er, and we are excited to take it for­ward over the next five years.

None of this can be achieved by work­ing alone. We need to con­tin­ue to work with loc­al busi­nesses, nation­al agen­cies, private estates, loc­al com­munit­ies and many oth­er organ­isa­tions. There is only strength in part­ner­ship working.

There is much to do but the Cairngorms Nation­al Park is a spe­cial place and we need to do all that we can to build on the past 20 years and con­tin­ue to deliv­er for people and nature.

Sandy Brem­ner Convener

Grant Moir Chief Executive

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Ro-ràdh

Tha 2023 a’ com­har­rachadh 20mh ceann-bli­adhna Pàirc Nàiseanta a’ Mhon­aidh Ruaidh. Tha uire­ad air ath­ar­rachadh thairis air an 20 bli­adhna mu dheire­adh, ach air feadh na h‑ùine sin tha Ùgh­dar­ras a’ Phàirc air a bhith air a stiùire­adh le amas­an a’ Phàirc Nàiseanta agus le lèirsinn gum bi daoine is nàdar a’ soirb­heachadh còmhla.

Tha am Plana Cor­porra seo mu dheidhinn an dearbh nì sin. Tha Plana Com- pàirtea­chais a’ Phàirc Nàiseanta a’ cur an cèill an t‑amas coitcheann a th’ againn gu ruige 2045, agus tha am plana seo a’ cur an cèill na bhios Ùgh­dar­ras a’ Phàirc a’ lìbhrigeadh thairis air an ath cheith­ir bliadhna.

’S e teis-meadhan a’ phlana an ceannar­das a dh’fhaodas Ùgh­dar­ras a’ Phàirc a thoirt seachad air cùisean leith­id èiginn an nàdair agus na gnàth-shìde, taighea­das neo-chos­gail agus siubhal gnìom­hach. Feu­maidh sinn a bhith mar eis­im­pleir air na ghabhas coileanadh nuair a tha fòcas ga chur air àite sòn­raichte gun a bhith a’ coim­head air gnotha­ichean ann an saidhleothan.

Tha Ùgh­dar­ras a’ Phàirc air a bhith mar mheadhan air seilb­heachd luach milleanan nòtaichean a thar­ra­ing thairis air an 20 bli­adhna a dh’fhalbh, agus bidh am Plana Cor­porra seo a’ dràib­headh bar­rachd seilb­heachd tar­sainn nan trì tèa­man againn: Nàdar, Daoine agus Àite.

Tha am plana cuideachd a’ toirt seachad soil­leire­achd agus stiùire­adh air­son luchd-obrach mìorbhaileach Ùgh­dar­ras a’ Phàirc, a tha a’ toirt seachad taic air-an-làr do dhusan­an pròiseact air feadh a’ Phàirc Nàiseanta agus a tha a’ cuideachadh gus na prìom­hachas­an aon­taichte againn a lìbhrigeadh.

San Dùbh­lachd 2023, gheibh sinn a‑mach an robh sinn soirb­hea­chail ann a bhith a’ faighinn maoineachadh a’ chran­nchuir air­son ìre lìbhrigidh a’ phrò­graim againn Cairngorms 2030. Bidh am prò­gram seo, a mhaire­as còig bli­adhna agus a tha luach £43 millean, a’ cur ann an làm­han muin­ntir a’ Phàirc Nàiseanta smachd a bhith a’ dèi­li­geadh ri èiginn an nàdair agus na gnàth-shìde, a’ toirt buan­nachd do shlàinte is sunnd dhaoine, a’ leas­achadh fhuasglaid­hean air­son còm­hd­hail sheasmhach agus a’ meu­dachadh nàdar. B’ ann air­son prò­gra­man den leith­id seo a lìbhrigeadh a chaidh Ùgh­dar­ras a’ Phàirc a stèid­heachadh, agus tha sinn air bhi­or­an a bhith ga thoirt air adhart thairis air na h‑ath chòig bliadhna.

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Cha ghabh gin dhe seo a choileanadh le bhith ag obair nar n‑aonar. Feu­maidh sinn cumail oirnn ag obair le gnothachas­an ion­a­dail, buidh­nean nàiseanta, oighreach­dan prìobhaideach, coim­hearsnachdan ion­a­dail agus iomadh buid­heann eile. Chan fhaig­hear ach neart ann a bhith ag obair còmhla.

Tha mòran ri dhèanamh, ach tha Pàirc Nàiseanta a’ Mhon­aidh Ruaidh na àite sòn­raichte agus feu­maidh sinn ar dìcheall a dhèanamh gus togail air an 20 bli­adhna a chaidh seachad agus cumail oirnn a’ lìbhrigeadh air­son daoine is nàdar.

Image of a twin­flower © Ed Smith

Sandy Brem­ner Neach-gairm

Grant Moir Ceannard

Intro­duc­tion The nature and cli­mate crisis is at the core of the new Cairngorms Nation­al Park Part­ner­ship Plan. That plan sets out how we will look after the Nation­al Park and how we devel­op and deliv­er a well­being eco­nomy that works for the people of the Cairngorms, whilst also restor­ing nature and deliv­er­ing net zero. It is our duty to deliv­er the Part­ner­ship Plan along­side our many part­ners, and to look after and enhance this spe­cial place for the people of Scotland.

This Cor­por­ate Plan describes how the Cairngorms Nation­al Park Author­ity con­trib­utes to the deliv­ery of the Cairngorms Nation­al Park Part­ner­ship Plan 2022 – 27.

Our Cor­por­ate Plan also sets out how the Park Author­ity plans to achieve our aim of being ​‘the best small pub­lic body in Scot­land’ and how we will sup­port Scot­tish Gov­ern­ment across its policy priorities.

Our ambi­tion is set out across three themes – Nature, People and Place. These are the themes of the Nation­al Park Part­ner­ship Plan and this doc­u­ment sets out the role the Park Author­ity will play in help­ing to deliv­er the object­ives set out in that doc­u­ment. This is under­pinned by our cor­por­ate func­tions and com­mu­nic­a­tions and engage­ment work.

Over 100 organ­isa­tions are lis­ted in the Part­ner­ship Plan doc­u­ment and it is our inten­tion to work in part­ner­ship with a range of organ­isa­tions, com­munit­ies, land man­agers, busi­nesses and oth­ers to deliv­er real change on the ground.

The Park Author­ity has a good track record of using its fund­ing to lever­age sig­ni­fic­ant sup­port into the Cairngorms and we will con­tin­ue to do this. The Part­ner­ship Plan focuses on the big issues in the Nation­al Park and our role is to work with all to tackle those key chal­lenges and come up with prac­tic­al solutions.

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Stra­tegic con­text With­in the Nation­al Park The Cairngorms is the UK’s largest nation­al park at 4,528 sq km (6% of Scotland’s land mass) and is home to one quarter of the UK’s rare and endangered spe­cies. Around 18,000 people live in the Nation­al Park across the areas of Aber­deen­shire, Angus, High­land, Moray, Perth and Kinross, with over two mil­lion vis­it­ors enjoy­ing this spe­cial place every year.

The Nation­al Park has four dis­tinct aims as set out by Parliament:

To con­serve and enhance the nat­ur­al and cul­tur­al her­it­age of the area.

To pro­mote sus­tain­able use of the nat­ur­al resources of the area.

To pro­mote under­stand­ing and enjoy­ment (includ­ing enjoy­ment in the form of recre­ation) of the spe­cial qual­it­ies of the area by the public.

To pro­mote sus­tain­able eco­nom­ic and social devel­op­ment of the area’s communities.

These aims are to be pur­sued col­lect­ively. How­ever, if there is con­flict between the first aim and any of the oth­ers, great­er weight is giv­en to the first aim (as set out in Sec­tion 9.6 of the Nation­al Parks (Scot­land) Act 2000). This helps ensure con­ser­va­tion of the nat­ur­al and cul­tur­al her­it­age under­pins the eco­nom­ic, social and recre­ation value of the Cairngorms Nation­al Park.

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Image of a young per­son attend­ing the EURO­PARC Con­fer­ence in Aviemore Ross Elder

Across Scot­land The dir­ec­tion of travel from Scot­tish Gov­ern­ment is clear around the nature and cli­mate crisis, the need to have a just trans­ition and the need to devel­op an eco­nomy that works for all. There is sig­ni­fic­ant change likely to hap­pen in Scot­land over the com­ing years that will have a sig­ni­fic­ant impact on the Nation­al Park and how the Park Author­ity oper­ates. This includes the Nature / Envir­on­ment Bill, Land Reform Bill and Agri­cul­ture Bill, all due with­in this par­lia­ment­ary term. There are also pro­pos­als for at least one new nation­al park in Scotland.

The Park Author­ity con­tin­ues to work closely with pub­lic sec­tor part­ners through work­ing groups and through stra­tegic engage­ment in entit­ies like the Envir­on­ment and Eco­nomy Lead­ers’ Group, Scot­tish For­um on Nat­ur­al Cap­it­al etc and across the full range of Scot­tish Gov­ern­ment functions.

Fur­ther afield The Park Author­ity works closely with oth­er nation­al parks in the UK as part of the Nation­al Parks Part­ner­ship and Nation­al Parks UK. These col­lab­or­at­ive mech­an­isms allow us to use the power of 15 nation­al parks to tackle some of the key stra­tegic pri­or­it­ies around green fin­ance, fun­drais­ing and spon­sor­ship, and oth­er issues that are more dif­fi­cult to tackle as a single nation­al park.

At a European level, the Park Author­ity con­tin­ues to be an effect­ive and enthu­si­ast­ic mem­ber of the EURO­PARC Fed­er­a­tion, which provides great insight, coordin­a­tion and know­ledge-shar­ing into how nation­al parks are tack­ling the big issues across Europe.

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Image of an osprey © Peter Cairns / 2020VISION Our long-term vis­ion: ​‘An out­stand­ing Nation­al Park, enjoyed and val­ued by every­one, where nature and people thrive together.’

Park Author­ity mis­sion To lead the way in deliv­er­ing for the Cairngorms Nation­al Park by: Bring­ing people togeth­er towards a com­mon pur­pose. Enhan­cing the Nation­al Park for every­one. Inspir­ing new gen­er­a­tions to be Nation­al Park cham­pi­ons. Our val­ues The Park Author­ity is an open, inclus­ive, innov­at­ive and pro­fes­sion­al organ­isa­tion that behaves with integ­rity. The Park Author­ity also oper­ates in an envir­on­ment­ally friendly man­ner and demon­strates lead­er­ship in this area.

Image of two vis­it­ors point­ing at a map of the Nation­al Park © Mark Craig / Air­borne Lens

Cul­ture The Park Author­ity wants to be the best small pub­lic body in Scot­land. The Best Com­pan­ies Sur­vey has con­sist­ently shown that we are a people- ori­ent­ated organ­isa­tion that is per­form­ing well for its employ­ees. The Park Author­ity will build on our Organ­isa­tion­al Devel­op­ment Strategy and will strive to ensure a high-per­form­ance cul­ture and take for­ward new oppor­tun­it­ies where they arise to deliv­er for the Nation­al Park. We will also be innov­at­ive, quick to act and to empower staff to deliv­er the strategies that are put in place by the Park Author­ity board. Diversity and equal­ity will be a key com­pon­ent of our work. New ways of work­ing The Park Author­ity will con­tin­ue to look at new ways to oper­ate as an organ­isa­tion to deliv­er our com­mit­ments in this plan peri­od. This includes look­ing for altern­at­ive fund­ing streams, from applic­a­tions to the likes of the Nation­al Lot­tery Her­it­age Fund to spon­sor­ship oppor­tun­it­ies, green fin­ance and oth­er mech­an­isms. It will also include work­ing col­lab­or­at­ively with part­ners to deliv­er improved ser­vices on the ground.

Image of two cyc­lists on the Deeside Way © Jak­ub Iwan­icki / VisitScotland

Per­form­ance mon­it­or­ing We have set out indic­at­ors for each of the key object­ives in the Part­ner­ship Plan and these will be meas­ured and mon­itored across the next five years. By nature of the Park Authority’s role – seek­ing to lead col­lab­or­at­ive effort in tack­ling the big issues for the Cairngorms – these per­form­ance meas­ures are rarely dir­ectly con­trol­lable by the Park Author­ity and cer­tainly not by the Park Author­ity alone.

Rather, they require the neces­sary col­lab­or­a­tion and engage­ment of the Park Author­ity and our part­ners. In this way, they act as meas­ures of the effect­ive­ness of our lead­er­ship and influ­en­cing abil­it­ies, com­bined with our own dir­ect invest­ment of fin­ance and staff resources, in tack­ling these priorities.

Image of a per­son in an off-road wheel­chair next to Loch Mor­lich © Dav­id Lintern

Park Author­ity board Image of a bee on a phacelia flower Mark Ham­blin / Scot­land: The Big Picture

The Park Author­ity board provides stra­tegic dir­ec­tion for the organ­isa­tion. There are 19 board mem­bers, a mix­ture of dir­ectly elec­ted, loc­al author­ity nom­in­ees and Scot­tish Gov­ern­ment appointees. The board car­ries out its func­tions through a pro­cess of form­al pub­lic meet­ings and com­mit­tee meet­ings. The board’s form­al com­mit­tees are: audit and risk, plan­ning, resources and per­form­ance. 13

Ser­vices The Park Author­ity is the Plan­ning Author­ity and Out­door Access Author­ity for the area.

This means that cer­tain func­tions have to be provided by the Park Author­ity, eg the Loc­al Devel­op­ment Plan, Core Paths Plan, devel­op­ment man­age­ment (where plan­ning applic­a­tions are called in), out­door access case work and the Nation­al Park Part­ner­ship Plan.

The Park Author­ity also has a num­ber of ongo­ing fund­ing com­mit­ments, such as to com­munity devel­op­ment officers, ranger ser­vices, multi-year pro­jects (Cairngorms 2030, Cairngorms Caper­cail­lie Pro­ject, com­munity-led loc­al devel­op­ment), peat­land res­tor­a­tion, catch­ment man­age­ment and nature res­tor­a­tion projects.

These ongo­ing com­mit­ments and stat­utory duties, along­side the over­arch­ing Nation­al Park Part­ner­ship Plan, mean that the room for sig­ni­fic­ant change in stra­tegic dir­ec­tion is rel­at­ively restricted.

Image of a com­munity con­sulta­tion event in Brae­mar © Louise Fenlon

Cor­por­ate Plan delivery

Image of volun­teers repair­ing paths near Loch A’an Becky Wilson

Nature People Place To deliv­er the long-term out­comes set out in the Cairngorms Nation­al Park Part­ner­ship Plan, we have sep­ar­ated the doc­u­ment into three main themes: Nature, People and Place.

These are sup­ple­men­ted by a sup­port theme – Cor­por­ate ser­vices and com­mu­nic­a­tions. The fol­low­ing pages show the dir­ect and indir­ect deliv­ery of the Park Author­ity against the Nation­al Park Part­ner­ship Plan objectives.

The key per­form­ance indic­at­ors for Nature, People and Place are set out in the Nation­al Park Part­ner­ship Plan. The Cor­por­ate key per­form­ance indic­at­ors are set out in this doc­u­ment on page 60.

Image of Loch an Eilein James Shoot­er / SCOT­LAND: The Big Picture

Nature Image of twin­flower in Dell Wood © Mark Ham­blin / Scot­land: The Big Picture

Nature Al: Net zero OBJECT­IVE Ensure the Cairngorms Nation­al Park Reaches net zero as soon as pos­sible and con­trib­utes all it can to help­ing Scot­land meet its net zero commitments.

ACTIONS BY 2027 • • • • DIR­ECT DELIV­ERY • • INDIR­ECT DELIV­ERY • Car­bon audit and baseline estab­lished for the Cairngorms Nation­al Park in 2022. Estab­lish date for Cairngorms Nation­al Park to be net zero and car­bon neg­at­ive in 2023. Estab­lish a Com­munity Cli­mate Action Hub for the Nation­al Park. Cairngorms 2030 pro­gramme. Deliv­er­ing baseline report, mon­it­or and annu­ally report on pro­gress towards the Cairngorms Nation­al Park achiev­ing net zero and sub­sequently act­ing as a car­bon sink. Lead on deliv­er­ing Cairngorms 2030, empower­ing people to con­trib­ute to net zero ambi­tions. Park Author­ity will work with part­ners includ­ing Scot­tish Gov­ern­ment to estab­lish a Com­munity Cli­mate Action Hub. 18

A2: Wood­land expan­sion OBJECT­IVE Increase the amount of wood­land in the Nation­al Park to sup­port lar­ger, more nat­ur­al wood­land, expand­ing in places up to a nat­ur­al treeline, provid­ing con­nec­tions across river catch­ments and around the cent­ral core of the mountains.

ACTIONS BY 2027 • • • • • Expand wood­land by a min­im­um of 7,000 ha through the deliv­ery of the Cairngorms Nation­al Park Forest Strategy and tar­geted grant schemes. Ensure all scales of wood­land are con­sidered and sup­por­ted, includ­ing agro-forestry, and that at least 2,500 ha is achieved through nat­ur­al regen­er­a­tion without plant­ing. Work with land man­agers to ensure exist­ing wood­lands are man­aged for a range of bene­fits includ­ing tim­ber pro­duc­tion, pub­lic access, biod­iversity etc. Work to deliv­er improve­ments to wood­land deer man­age­ment plan­ning in forest plans. Cairngorms 2030 pro­gramme. DIR­ECT DELIV­ERY • INDIR­ECT DELIV­ERY • • Deliv­er 1,000 ha of new or expan­ded wood­land with new and innov­at­ive uses of the Forest Grant Scheme as part of Cairngorms 2030. Pro­mote and admin­is­ter a Wood­land Chal­lenge Fund to sup­port land man­agers in the pre­par­a­tion of Forest Grant Scheme applic­a­tions. The Park Author­ity will inspire, encour­age and provide advice on wood­land cre­ation, poten­tial forestry applic­a­tions and forest plans in the Nation­al Park to landown­ers and Scot­tish Forestry in line with the Nation­al Park Part­ner­ship Plan, Cairngorms Nature and Cairngorms Forest Strategy. 19

A3: Peat­land res­tor­a­tion OBJECT­IVE Restore and man­age peat­land with­in the Nation­al Park to reduce car­bon emis­sions and improve biodiversity.

ACTIONS BY 2027 • • • • Restore a min­im­um of 6,500 ha of peat­land by 2027. Increase con­tract­or and estate capa­city while cre­at­ing job oppor­tun­it­ies through a peat­land skills train­ing pro­gramme. Devel­op guid­ance on the integ­ra­tion of peat­land res­tor­a­tion and wood­land expan­sion in the Nation­al Park. Explore pro­tec­tion options for peat­land res­tor­a­tion from herb­i­vores. • DIR­ECT DELIV­ERY • INDIR­ECT DELIV­ERY • • Cairngorms 2030 pro­gramme. Sup­port and fin­ance the res­tor­a­tion of peat­land, with 6,500 hec­tares restored by 2027. Peat­land skills train­ing pro­gramme to be developed with part­ners. Guid­ance on integ­ra­tion of peat­land and wood­land to be developed with part­ners, includ­ing how to pro­tect from herb­i­vores. Image of the Peat­land Action team at Atholl Estates © Ed Smith TAGA

A4: Deer and herb­i­vore impacts OBJECT­IVE Reduce the neg­at­ive impacts of red deer and oth­er herb­i­vores across the Nation­al Park to enable wood­lands to expand, heath­er loss to be reversed, peat­lands to recov­er and wider biod­iversity and land­scape enhance­ments to take place.

ACTIONS BY 2027 • • • • Work in part­ner­ship with deer man­age­ment groups to pro­duce stra­tegic land use plans which explore a wide range of income streams (includ­ing from nat­ur­al cap­it­al), reduce hab­it­at impacts and deliv­er a wide range of pub­lic and private bene­fits. Explore new mod­els of pub­lic / private part­ner­ship for main­tain­ing stalk­er employ­ment in key areas of the Nation­al Park to achieve over­all deer policy object­ives. Explore the use of meas­ures of deer and herb­i­vore occu­pancy across the Nation­al Park and invest­ig­ate how those meas­ures might be used to improve the man­age­ment of herb­i­vores and, spe­cific­ally, reduce deer impacts on res­tor­a­tion tar­gets. Cairngorms 2030 pro­gramme. DIR­ECT DELIV­ERY • • • INDIR­ECT DELIV­ERY • Work with deer man­age­ment groups, as part of Cairngorms 2030, to deliv­er stra­tegic land man­age­ment plans to sup­port a reduc­tion in deer num­bers. Invest­ig­ate and tri­al mod­els which achieve policy out­comes and retain skills and employ­ment in the sec­tor. Invest­ig­ate the effic­acy and prac­tic­al­it­ies of meas­ures used in assess­ing impacts. The Park Author­ity will work with part­ners on the stra­tegic board and work­ing groups in imple­ment­ing recom­mend­a­tions from the Deer Work­ing Group. 21

A5: Moor­land man­age­ment OBJECT­IVE Increase the sus­tain­ab­il­ity of moor­land man­age­ment in the Nation­al Park to ensure great­er spe­cies and struc­tur­al diversity in moor­land areas of the Nation­al Park.

ACTIONS BY 2027 • • • Intro­duc­tion of grouse moor licens­ing and oth­er ele­ments of the Inde­pend­ent Review of Grouse Moor Man­age­ment with­in the Cairngorms Nation­al Park. Sup­port know­ledge exchange and shar­ing of good prac­tice from the East Cairngorms Moor­land Part­ner­ship to oth­er parts of the Nation­al Park. Devel­op and sup­port estate man­age­ment plans and Wild­life Estates Scot­land accred­it­a­tion. DIR­ECT DELIV­ERY • INDIR­ECT DELIV­ERY • • Lead the East Cairngorms Moor­land Part­ner­ship as a demon­stra­tion of sus­tain­able moor­land man­age­ment deliv­er­ing both pub­lic and private interests. Con­trib­ute to the devel­op­ment and imple­ment­a­tion of grouse moor licens­ing. Coordin­ate and sup­port the Cairngorms Upland Advis­ory Group. Image of a keep­er at Del­nadamph car­ry­ing out wader sur­vey­ing work © Ed Smith

A6: Gamebird man­age­ment OBJECT­IVE Ensure that all pheas­ant and part­ridge shoots adhere to best prac­tice and that all gamebird releases are sus­tain­able and do not neg­at­ively impact on nat­ive biodiversity.

ACTIONS BY 2027 DIR­ECT DELIV­ERY • • Estab­lish a baseline for the num­ber of gamebirds released in the Nation­al Park and assess their impact on nat­ive biod­iversity. Depend­ing on the evid­ence gathered, invest­ig­ate the use of Park Author­ity powers to reg­u­late gamebird releases and devel­op a reg­u­lat­ory approach if required. • Estab­lish a baseline and assess impact of gamebird releases on nat­ive biod­iversity. Pro­duce report and recom­mend­a­tions on poten­tial options based on a com­pre­hens­ive impact assess­ment. 23

A7: Fire man­age­ment OBJECT­IVE Ensure that all man­aged burn­ing (muir­burn) fol­lows best prac­tice as defined by the muir­burn licens­ing scheme, sup­port­ing hab­it­at res­tor­a­tion and recov­ery. Reduce wild­fire risk by devel­op­ing an integ­rated wild­fire man­age­ment plan for the Nation­al Park.

ACTIONS BY 2027 • • • • Con­duct an audit to estab­lish an accur­ate baseline for the extent of deep peat in the Nation­al Park. Intro­duce and sup­port a muir­burn licen­cing régime in the Nation­al Park. Devel­op an integ­rated wild­fire man­age­ment plan for the Nation­al Park, includ­ing stra­tegic firebreaks. Devel­op and agree a Nation­al Park approach on camp­fires and bar­be­cues. DIR­ECT • DELIV­ERY • Devel­op an integ­rated wild­fire man­age­ment plan. Estab­lish a baseline of deep peat. INDIR­ECT DELIV­ERY • Image of muir­burn © Will Boyd Wal­lis Con­trib­ute to the devel­op­ment and imple­ment­a­tion of muir­burn good prac­tice and a new licens­ing régime, along­side clear com­mu­nic­a­tion about the risk of fires and appro­pri­ate behaviour.

A8: Farm­ing OBJECT­IVE Work with farms in the Nation­al Park to reduce their car­bon foot­print, con­serve soil car­bon, encour­age sus­tain­able pro­duc­tion and deliv­er increased biod­iversity on in-bye land.

ACTIONS BY 2027 • • • Agree car­bon and biod­iversity man­age­ment plans with farm­ers in the Nation­al Park to help guide their activ­it­ies. Devel­op nature-friendly farm­ing pro­jects (wood­land, waders, spe­cies rich grass­land) as part of the Cairngorms Nature Action Plan. Devel­op and estab­lish a Region­al Land Use Frame­work and Part­ner­ship. DIR­ECT • DELIV­ERY • • Com­plete pilot Region­al Land Use Part­ner­ship and Region­al Land Use Frame­work. Lead over­sight of deliv­ery of the Cairngorms Nature Action Plan. Deliv­er Cairngorms 2030 Future Farm­ing pro­jects, sup­port­ing farm­ers in achiev­ing car­bon neut­ral­ity and help­ing address the nature and cli­mate crises in the con­text of a prof­it­able farm busi­ness. INDIR­ECT DELIV­ERY • • Coordin­ate and sup­port the Cairngorms Nature part­ner­ship and Cairngorms Upland Advis­ory Group. Work with part­ners to sup­port farm­ers and crofters through any required trans­itions and review sup­port mech­an­isms for farm­ing in the Nation­al Park. 25

A9: Fresh­wa­ter sys­tems OBJECT­IVE Restore and con­nect rivers to thriv­ing wet­lands and flood­plains as part of a wider res­tor­a­tion of the Nation­al Park’s fresh­wa­ter sys­tems, help­ing mit­ig­ate the impacts of cli­mate change.

ACTIONS BY 2027 • Deliv­er catch­ment man­age­ment plans. • DIR­ECT DELIV­ERY • INDIR­ECT DELIV­ERY • Devel­op and agree a long-term approach to water man­age­ment and abstrac­tion to help alle­vi­ate flood and drought issues. Deliv­er Cairngorms 2030 Cli­mate Resi­li­ent Catch­ment pro­jects, demon­strat­ing res­tor­a­tion com­ple­ment­ary to sur­round­ing land use that bene­fits com­munit­ies and wild­life. Sup­port Catch­ment Man­age­ment Part­ner­ships and Fish­er­ies Boards. Image of the River Dee at Bal­later © Liam Anderstrem

A10: Eco­lo­gic­al net­work OBJECT­IVE ACTIONS BY 2027 Con­nect hab­it­ats and eco­sys­tems across all dif­fer­ent types of land use in the Nation­al Park to cre­ate an eco­lo­gic­al net­work, which will bring wider land­scape, biod­iversity and people bene­fits. • • • • Devel­op Cairngorms Nature Net­works a spa­tial map­ping of poten­tial stra­tegic areas for expand­ing, enhan­cing and increas­ing con­nectiv­ity of hab­it­ats and spe­cies in the Nation­al Park. Under­take a ​‘call’ for new nature res­tor­a­tion sites in the Nation­al Park that deliv­er eco­lo­gic­al func­tion­al­ity and look to secure long-term fund­ing. Review and devel­op our approach to des­ig­na­tions in the Nation­al Park to help deliv­er eco­lo­gic­al res­tor­a­tion and con­trib­ute to eco­lo­gic­al net­works and net zero, in line with the new Scot­tish Biod­iversity Strategy. Devel­op NatureScot con­ser­va­tion advice pack­ages. DIR­ECT DELIV­ERY • • INDIR­ECT DELIV­ERY • Design, deliv­er and show­case a tem­plate for nature net­works to guide hab­it­at res­tor­a­tion pri­or­it­ies and sup­port land use decision mak­ing. Devel­op, pub­li­cise and admin­is­ter a sys­tem for encour­aging land man­agers to engage with cre­at­ing nature net­works, includ­ing a call for sites. Encour­age using test cases in the Nation­al Park to devel­op new think­ing and mod­els for the role of des­ig­nated sites in meet­ing the nature and cli­mate crises. 27

All: Eco­lo­gic­al res­tor­a­tion OBJECT­IVE Improve eco­sys­tem func­tion­al­ity and resi­li­ence across the Nation­al Park by increas­ing the area of land man­aged prin­cip­ally for eco­lo­gic­al res­tor­a­tion. ACTIONS BY 2027 • • Work with Cairngorms Con­nect, the East Cairngorms Moor­land Part­ner­ship and oth­ers to expand the area of the Nation­al Park under eco­sys­tem res­tor­a­tion. Devel­op case stud­ies demon­strat­ing what suc­cess looks like, share know­ledge, and agree an appro­pri­ate mon­it­or­ing frame­work. DIR­ECT DELIV­ERY • Define and estab­lish a baseline on land man­aged prin­cip­ally for eco­sys­tem res­tor­a­tion. Encour­age more land in the Nation­al Park to be man­aged prin­cip­ally for eco­sys­tem res­tor­a­tion to meet the tar­get in the Part­ner­ship Plan. INDIR­ECT DELIV­ERY • • Show­case eco­lo­gic­al res­tor­a­tion through land­scape-scale part­ner­ships in the Nation­al Park. Con­trib­ute to the devel­op­ment and imple­ment­a­tion of the glob­al 30×30 biod­iversity tar­get. Image show­ing regen­er­at­ing wood­land along the River Fesh­ie © Scot­land: The Big Picture

A12: Cairngorms Nature Index OBJECT­IVE Devel­op a more com­plete under­stand­ing of the Nation­al Park’s spe­cies, hab­it­ats and eco­sys­tems, and help mon­it­or long-term pro­gress through a ded­ic­ated Cairngorms Nature Index.

ACTIONS BY 2027 • • • DIR­ECT • DELIV­ERY • Estab­lish the Cairngorms Nature Index. Estab­lish a Cairngorms Nature Atlas / data portal. Mon­it­or changes in spe­cial land­scape qual­it­ies. Design, deliv­er and show­case a Cairngorms Nature Index. Estab­lish a bio­lo­gic­al data portal. INDIR­ECT DELIV­ERY • Sup­port the Cairngorms Nature part­ner­ship. Image of Genevieve Tomp­kins sur­vey­ing pine hov­er­fly in the wild © Josie Slade Bird­fair RIC Project

A13: Spe­cies recov­ery OBJECT­IVE Ensure spe­cies thrive in the Nation­al Park, with key assemblages across the Cairngorms with­in the semi- nat­ur­al land­scape. ACTIONS BY 2027 • • • • • Deliv­er spe­cies recov­ery plans for pri­or­ity spe­cies through the Cairngorms Nature Action Plan. Deliv­er a work pro­gramme to sup­port caper­cail­lie con­ser­va­tion in the Cairngorms, based on best avail­able evid­ence. Facil­it­ate beaver trans­lo­ca­tion in the Cairngorms Nation­al Park. Reduce wild­life crime in the Nation­al Park, with a spe­cif­ic focus on elim­in­at­ing it as a con­straint on rap­tor num­bers and range occu­pancy in the Nation­al Park. Deliv­er the Cairngorms Rap­tor Pro­ject, in part­ner­ship with land man­agers and rap­tor study groups. & DIR­ECT DELIV­ERY • Lead on beaver rein­tro­duc­tion. • • INDIR­ECT • DELIV­ERY Lead on a caper­cail­lie emer­gency plan and long-term strategy. Lead on the Cairngorms Rap­tor Pro­ject. • Coordin­ate and sup­port the Cairngorms Nature part­ner­ship and deliv­ery of the Cairngorms Nature Action Plan. Foster col­lab­or­a­tion with Police Scot­land, Rap­tor Study Groups and land man­agers. 30

A14: Green invest­ment OBJECT­IVE ACTIONS BY 2027 DIR­ECT DELIV­ERY Use private green invest­ment in the Nation­al Park to fund nature’s recov­ery and share the bene­fits between com­munit­ies, landown­ers, work­ers and wider soci­ety. • • • • Tri­al a green fin­ance pro­ject for peat­land res­tor­a­tion in the Nation­al Park. Explore green fin­ance oppor­tun­it­ies at a land­scape scale and for a wider range of bene­fits, includ­ing loc­al com­munity bene­fit. Identi­fy a pipeline of pro­jects with­in the Nation­al Park over the next five years. Identi­fy oppor­tun­it­ies to strengthen the role of com­munit­ies and pub­lic author­it­ies in land pur­chase decisions in the Nation­al Park through the next Land Reform Bill. • Pilot approaches to blen­ded pub­lic and private fin­ance to deliv­er net zero and biod­iversity tar­gets, whilst also provid­ing long-term bene­fits for land man­agers, investors and loc­al com­munit­ies. INDIR­ECT • DELIV­ERY Sup­port res­tor­a­tion activ­it­ies at scale via land­scape part­ner­ships. Image of peat­land res­tor­a­tion on An Lurg James Shoot­er / Scot­land: The Big Picture

People Image of dry stone wall repairs at Bal­lie­furth Farm © Ed Smith

People B1: Work­ing-age pop­u­la­tion OBJECT­IVE ACTIONS BY 2027 DIR­ECT DELIV­ERY The pro­por­tion of young and work­ing-age people in the Nation­al Park increases rel­at­ive to the total res­id­ent pop­u­la­tion, which remains stable. • • • Devel­op and imple­ment a Loc­al Devel­op­ment Plan. Devel­op a green skills / youth appren­tice­ship pro­ject to help grow a strong work­ing age pop­u­la­tion (see People object­ive B4 – Skills and train­ing). Grow the influ­ence and level of youth par­ti­cip­a­tion in the Cairngorms Youth Action Team. • • • Deliv­er and mon­it­or the cur­rent Loc­al Devel­op­ment Plan. Lead devel­op­ment of the new Loc­al Devel­op­ment Plan. Lead the coordin­a­tion and devel­op­ment of the Cairngorms Youth Action Team. INDIR­ECT DELIV­ERY • • • Pro­mote devel­op­ment of sites with­in the Loc­al Devel­op­ment Plan. Work in part­ner­ship with loc­al author­it­ies to pro­mote coordin­ated deliv­ery of the Loc­al Devel­op­ment Plan. Sup­port part­ners deliv­er­ing green skills youth appren­tice­ships or equi­val­ent skills and train­ing ini­ti­at­ives. 33

B2: Well­being eco­nomy OBJECT­IVE Devel­op a well­being eco­nomy that deliv­ers social justice in a healthy eco­sys­tem, draw­ing on the spe­cial nat­ur­al and cul­tur­al qual­it­ies of the Cairngorms. ACTIONS BY 2027 • • • Devel­op Cairngorms Corner­stone Indic­at­ors for a well­being eco­nomy to track key social and eco­nom­ic data and trends. Devel­op and imple­ment a Well­being Eco­nomy Action Plan with tar­geted sup­port and devel­op­ment meas­ures for key sec­tors. Sup­port employ­ers to gain accred­it­a­tion for eg Dis­ab­il­ity Con­fid­ent, Carer Pos­it­ive and the Young Person’s Guar­an­tee (see People object­ive B10 – Park for All). DIR­ECT DELIV­ERY • • INDIR­ECT • DELIV­ERY • Lead the devel­op­ment of corner­stone indic­at­ors. Lead the devel­op­ment of a Well­being Eco­nomy Action Plan to integ­rate eco­nom­ic and com­munity-led devel­op­ment. Pro­mote accred­it­a­tion schemes that cham­pi­on equal­it­ies and equal oppor­tun­it­ies. Coordin­ate and sup­port the Eco­nom­ic Steer­ing Group. Image of a farm­ers’ mar­ket in Kin­gussie © Liam Ander­str­em 000

B3: Real Liv­ing Wage OBJECT­IVE Increase the num­ber of Real Liv­ing Wage employ­ers in the Nation­al Park. ACTIONS BY 2027 • DIR­ECT DELIV­ERY • INDIR­ECT DELIV­ERY • Under­take a Real Liv­ing Wage audit of employ­ers in the Nation­al Park and Pro­mote best prac­tice and provide reg­u­lar reports. Pro­mote the devel­op­ment of Real Liv­ing Wages through Eco­nom­ic Steer­ing Group as part of Well­being Eco­nomy Action Plan. Con­trib­ute to research on the Real Liv­ing Wage and sup­port ini­ti­at­ives to increase par­ti­cip­a­tion. Image of walk­ing boots for sale in Aviemore © Mark Craig

B4: Skills and train­ing OBJECT­IVE Increase skills and train­ing oppor­tun­it­ies for people in the Nation­al Park to meet busi­ness needs and ensure oppor­tun­it­ies cre­ated by the growth in green jobs can be filled by res­id­ents and under-rep­res­en­ted groups. ACTIONS BY 2027 • • • Sup­port skills and train­ing pro­grammes rel­ev­ant to busi­ness needs and changes in land man­age­ment with­in the Nation­al Park (see Nature object­ives A2 to A6). Devel­op schol­ar­ships and a ment­or­ing scheme for young people who want to study and be employed in the Nation­al Park. Devel­op tar­geted skills ini­ti­at­ives to sup­port social enter­prises (see People object­ive B5 – Com­munity assets and land). DIR­ECT DELIV­ERY • Devel­op the Park Author­ity as an exem­plar of good prac­tice in youth train­ing and skills – with emphas­is on the Plan­ning, Peat­land, Ranger, Out­door Access and Cor­por­ate Ser­vices teams. INDIR­ECT DELIV­ERY • • Fin­an­cially sup­port tar­geted skills ini­ti­at­ives, ment­or­ing schemes and col­lab­or­at­ive busi­ness organ­isa­tions (eg Grow­biz, Coun­tryside Learn­ing Scot­land, Cairngorms Busi­ness Part­ner­ship). Pro­mote schol­ar­ships and train­ing oppor­tun­it­ies. 36

B5: Com­munity assets and land OBJECT­IVE Increase the num­ber of assets in com­munity own­er­ship or man­age­ment, the num­ber of social enter­prises that gen­er­ate a profit and the area of land where com­munit­ies are involved in man­age­ment decisions. ACTIONS BY 2027 • • • • Identi­fy oppor­tun­it­ies for com­munity land own­er­ship through a refreshed set of com­munity action plans / loc­al place plans. Pro­mote Scot­tish Land Com­mis­sion Guid­ance and mon­it­or com­pli­ance. Devel­op tar­geted skills ini­ti­at­ives to sup­port social enter­prises – as B4. Sup­port com­munit­ies to acquire and man­age assets / land through enhanced fund­ing and train­ing sup­port. DIR­ECT DELIV­ERY • • INDIR­ECT DELIV­ERY • • Coordin­ate and pro­mote the devel­op­ment of loc­al action plans / loc­al place plans. Deliv­er Cairngorms 2030 pro­jects – com­munity- man­aged cli­mate grants, effect­ive com­munity engage­ment etc. Pro­mote Scot­tish Land Com­mis­sion guid­ance through all our part­ner­ship work. Coordin­ate and pro­mote the devel­op­ment of com­munity owned or man­aged assets in the Nation­al Park. 37

B6: New approaches to cit­izen par­ti­cip­a­tion OBJECT­IVE Strengthen the par­ti­cip­a­tion struc­tures that support