Paper 4 Annex - C2030 Summary leaflet 2024

Cairngorms 2030

2024 pro­gramme update

Put­ting the power to tackle the nature and cli­mate crises in the hands of people who live, vis­it and work in the Cairngorms Nation­al Park

about… Cairngorms 2030

Inspired by the Gael­ic word Dùthchas, Cairngorms 2030 is put­ting the power to tackle the nature and cli­mate crisis in the hands of people who live, vis­it and work in the UK’s largest nation­al park.

Over five years, the pro­gramme will inspire rur­al and urb­an com­munit­ies through­out Scot­land and bey­ond to take action and make a difference.

Dùthchas [noun, ​‘tu:xəs/] The deep-rooted con­nec­tion between people and nature

Across 20 long-term pro­jects we will:

Trans­form the way land is man­aged and used to bene­fit nature

Empower com­munit­ies to shape the future of their loc­al area

Make get­ting around the Cairngorms easi­er, safer and greener

Foster health­i­er, hap­pi­er com­munit­ies with well­being at their heart

“Your time, tal­ent, guid­ance and part­ner­ship make a sig­ni­fic­ant con­tri­bu­tion to our learners’ exper­i­ence and the cul­ture of our school.”

Par­ti­cipant schoolteacher

“The Out­door Demen­tia Resource Centre is a vital resource and the team there are worth their weight in gold.”

Out­door Demen­tia Resource Centre participant

Fun­ded by The Nation­al Lot­tery Her­it­age Fund, with thanks to Nation­al Lot­tery play­ers, Cairngorms 2030 involves col­lab­or­a­tion with over 90 part­ner organ­isa­tions in the deliv­ery of the pro­gramme. This trans­form­a­tion­al vis­ion is well on its way to mak­ing the Cairngorms Nation­al Park the UK’s first net zero nation­al park and a bet­ter place to live, work and visit.

“I feel more con­fid­ent walk­ing and being in nature, I have con­nec­ted with forest bathing which has increased my feel­ing of being relaxed and con­nec­ted and has intro­duced me to new friends.”

Green Health pro­ject participant

“We need to do some­thing now to stop the biod­iversity loss so the next gen­er­a­tion can enjoy what we had when we were young.”

Loc­al farmer

Empower­ing communities

Focus­sing on loc­al people, put­ting them at the heart of decision mak­ing, and encour­aging them to get involved and have their say. Work­ing to empower the voices of com­munit­ies on what mat­ters most to them.

1,200 attendees at com­munity engage­ment events

Sup­por­ted a net­work of cre­at­ives strength­en­ing loc­al con­nec­tions to land­scape and place

Over 500 loc­al school pupils tack­ling cli­mate change in their community

Innov­at­ive new com­munity engage­ment meth­ods tested ensur­ing every­one can con­trib­ute and get involved in decision making

£167,000 of com­munity grants awar­ded by the Cairngorms Trust to 18 pro­jects, includ­ing sup­port­ing young people and under- rep­res­en­ted groups into work

Trans­form­ing transport

We are improv­ing act­ive and sus­tain­able travel options with­in the Nation­al Park, work­ing with loc­al com­munit­ies to make travel with­in the area easi­er and greener.

Enabled safer routes in Kin­gussie by col­lab­or­at­ing on junc­tion improvements

£53,000 grants and con­tracts for trans­port pro­jects in 2024

Built cyc­ling con­fid­ence with school pupils through bike main­ten­ance sessions

Over 500 people con­nec­ted with the Trans­port team to feed­back on sus­tain­able trans­port initiatives

Restor­ing and enhan­cing landscapes

We are work­ing with land man­agers and com­munit­ies to enhance rivers, peat­land and wood­land eco­sys­tems. In 2024, Cairngorms 2030 has pro­gressed our jour­ney to net zero by work­ing to restore land­scapes, find­ing solu­tions to address the nature and cli­mate crisis.

2,000ha of peat­land restored

517ha nat­ive wood­land planted at Atholl Estates

Two deer lar­ders delivered and in operation

Worked to restore rivers, recon­nect­ing them to their nat­ur­al flood plains and boost­ing biodiversity

Sup­por­ted six farms to tri­al sus­tain­able prac­tices that bene­fit nature and reduce car­bon emissions

Improv­ing people’s health and wellbeing

Across the pub­lic, private and third sec­tors, Cairngorms 2030 is pro­mot­ing green health solu­tions, focus­ing on con­nect­ing with nature to sup­port and improve the health and well­being of res­id­ents in the Nation­al Park.

The UK’s first Out­door Demen­tia Resource Centre benefited people liv­ing with demen­tia and their carers more than 1,000 times through com­munity events and outreach

Nature pre­scrip­tions launched, with 39 refer­rals in 2024

‘Win­ter­ing Well’ cam­paign cre­ated, sup­port­ing and encour­aging access to nature through­out the winter months

Shared learn­ing about inclus­ive green health­care with stu­dents from the Uni­ver­sity of the High­lands and Islands

Pro­duced by the Cairngorms Nation­al Park Author­ity © 2025. For more inform­a­tion, vis­it cairngorms​.co​.uk/​c​a​i​r​n​g​o​r​m​s2030

Front cov­er image: Volun­teer rangers plant­ing trees to boost biod­iversity on a farm © Rupert Shanks Oth­er images Dav­id Lin­tern, Ed Smith, Rachel Keen­an, Will Hall