LOAFPaper2_Waterborneaccess

CAIRNGORMS LOC­AL OUT­DOOR ACCESS FOR­UM PAPER 2

CAIRNGORMS LOC­AL OUT­DOOR ACCESS FORUM

Title: Water borne access and sens­it­ive spe­cies Pre­pared by: Adam Streeter-Smith, Out­door Access Officer Pur­pose: To seek advice on:

1. Sup­port for a Park wide approach to mes­saging and man­age­ment of water borne access
2. To advise on the core mes­sages for Park wide advice on water borne access
3. To advise on frame­work for agree­ing site spe­cif­ic advice and infra­struc­ture improvements

Back­ground

1. Land man­agers in the Cairngorms have repor­ted an increase in the num­ber of people enjoy­ing the Parks lochs and rivers on paddle boards, inflat­able canoes and boats and in the water as ​“wild swim­mers”. This forms part of a wel­come nation­al trend, which encour­ages people to enjoy the out­doors and become more phys­ic­al activ­ity. Both out­comes of the Act­ive Cairngorms Strategy.
2. Cur­rently it is also the Year of Coats and Waters (see Year of Coasts and Waters 2020 – 21 | Vis­itScot­land) mean­ing col­lect­ively agen­cies are cel­eb­rat­ing the value of water and water based activities.
3. How­ever, with access rights come respons­ib­il­it­ies. Fol­low­ing lock­down land man­agers are report­ing anec­dot­al evid­ence that increased levels of these activ­it­ies may be hav­ing an impact on sens­it­ive spe­cies such as Golden Eye and Osprey.
4. To date the CNPA, as the Access Author­ity, has dealt with these issues on a case by case basis such as devel­op­ing loc­al guid­ance on Loch Vaa for wild swim­mers and fish­er­man and sup­port­ing RSPB advice for com­mer­cial users of Loch Insh towards pro­tect­ing nest­ing Ospreys. Giv­en reports of this increased usage we think now is the time to con­sider if Park wide guid­ance should be developed to ensure people and nature can thrive together.

Devel­op­ing Park wide advice

1. Cur­rently both the paddle code (see ¹⁄₃ A4 leaf­let (outdooraccess-scotland.scot)) and the Using Inland water Respons­ibly guid­ance (see Microsoft Word — Inland Water Guid­ance March 2010.doc (outdooraccess-scotland.scot)) tend to focus on:
   • Avoid­ing dis­turb­ing fishing
   • Pro­tect­ing access and egress points and

CAIRNGORMS LOC­AL OUT­DOOR ACCESS FOR­UM PAPER 2

• Park­ing.

1. Many of the lochs and rivers of the Park such as Loch Mor­lich are suit­able for such activ­it­ies so it is pro­posed that gen­er­ic advice and asso­ci­ated resources such as posters, films and social media posts are developed to pro­mote key messages.
2. Such mes­sages could include:
   • How to avoid inter­fer­ing with oth­ers enjoyment:
   • How to swim, paddle board or kayak safely and use a buoy­ancy aid:
   • How to avoid dis­turb­ing sens­it­ive or pro­tec­ted species.

Do mem­bers sup­port a Park wide approach to mes­saging and man­age­ment of water borne access?

What are the core mes­sages for Park wide advice on water borne access?

Sup­port­ing site spe­cif­ic guidance

1. Recog­nising that some des­ig­nated lochs in the Park, such as Loch Kin­nord and Loch Garten, are report­ing increased num­bers of paddle boarders and inflat­able boat users there is a need to devel­op site spe­cif­ic advice to mit­ig­ate against impacts on spe­cies such as Golden Eye and oth­er wildfowl.
2. As the Access Author­ity we are of the view this is jus­ti­fied and com­pet­ent under the aus­pices of the Land Reform (Scot­land) Act and Scot­tish Out­door Access Code (SOAC).
3. Page 106 of the Code, ​“Nature Reserves and oth­er Con­ser­va­tion Areas” states that ​“access rights extend to these places but remem­ber that they are care­fully man­aged for nature con­ser­va­tion and to safe­guard rare anim­als and plants. Take care to avoid dam­aging the site or dis­turb­ing its wild­life, or inter­fer­ing with its man­age­ment or enjoy­ment by oth­ers. Depend­ing on your activ­ity, you might be reques­ted to fol­low a spe­cif­ic route or to avoid exer­cising access rights in a spe­cif­ic area: fol­low­ing such loc­al guid­ance can help to safe­guard the nat­ur­al her­it­age of these areas.”
4. In order to agree the site spe­cif­ic advice it is pro­posed to test edu­ca­tion and infra­struc­ture improve­ments (see annex I) to determ­ine what inter­ven­tions are required to mit­ig­ate against dis­turb­ance and improve the vis­it­or exper­i­ence. Such actions could include:
   • Assess­ment and con­sol­id­a­tion of the num­ber and qual­ity of avail­able access and egress points at a giv­en site.
   • Vis­it­or man­age­ment mon­it­or­ing and engage­ment with users
   • Improved facil­it­ies for water users at key water access and egress points to pro­mote respons­ible beha­viour and enhance vis­it­or facilities.
   • Increased ranger ser­vice coverage:

CAIRNGORMS LOC­AL OUT­DOOR ACCESS FOR­UM PAPER 2

• Identi­fy zones to avoid dur­ing the bird breed­ing season.

Does the LOAF agree with the frame­work for agree­ing site spe­cif­ic advice and infra­struc­ture improvements?

Annex I DRAFT con­sid­er­a­tions for time lim­ited site based advice:

If most of the answers are ​“yes” then an enhanced pro­gramme of time lim­ited site based advice for the pub­lic can be supported.

Test	Y/N
Is the loch designated?
Are the spe­cies affected sched­ule one?
Is there a mon­it­or­ing frame­work in place to determ­ine how pop­u­lar the loch is for water borne access?
Is there strong evid­ence over time of impact on breed­ing, roost­ing and feed­ing success?
Have altern­at­ive approaches to vis­it­or man­age­ment been tested such as on site guid­ance and edu­ca­tion, buoys, zon­ing or increased ranger presence?
Are there suit­able altern­at­ive loc­a­tions nearby?
Can water borne access be facil­it­ated at a man­age­able location?
Has the LOAF been con­sul­ted on the proposal?