UK Nation­al Parks Con­fer­ence 2026

Wed­nes­day 16 to Fri­day 18 Septem­ber 2026 Mac­don­ald Aviemore Resort, Aviemore

Our theme: nature and people thriv­ing together

This year’s theme is inspired by the Gael­ic word Dùthchas, which encom­passes ideas of kin­ship, her­it­age and con­nec­tions between nature, people and place. The word has inspired the five-year Cairngorms 2030 pro­gramme, which is put­ting the power to tackle the nature and cli­mate crisis in the hands of the people who live, vis­it and work in the Cairngorms Nation­al Park.

Our ven­ue: Mac­don­ald Aviemore Resort

Loc­ated in the heart of the Nation­al Park, Mac­don­ald Aviemore Resort is loc­ated just a five-minute walk from Aviemore train sta­tion on the High­land Main Line. It is also a stone’s throw from the A9, with Inverness to the north and Perth to the south.

Address: Mac­don­ald High­land Resort, Aviemore, High­land, PH22 1PN Web­site: mac​don​ald​ho​tels​.co​.uk/​a​v​i​emore

Our spon­sors

We are grate­ful for the sup­port of SSEN Trans­mis­sion and Tar­mac for help­ing make this event happen.

Fur­ther information

If you would like to book a place, or have any ques­tions about the event, please con­tact us on enquiries@​cairngorms.​co.​uk or call +44 (0) 1479 873 535.

About the UK Nation­al Parks Conference

The 2026 con­fer­ence will focus on:

• How nation­al parks and pro­tec­ted areas can deliv­er for nature and people in a rap­idly chan­ging world.
• The oppor­tun­it­ies and risks linked to nat­ur­al cap­it­al mar­kets and large-scale land-use change.
• Ambi­tious eco­sys­tem res­tor­a­tion and resi­li­ence, includ­ing wood­land expan­sion, peat­land res­tor­a­tion, river res­tor­a­tion and col­lab­or­at­ive work­ing at scale.
• Col­lab­or­at­ive work across the UK’s nation­al parks to deliv­er key nature res­tor­a­tion tar­gets, such as, 30×30.

Pro­gramme

Wed­nes­day 16 September

13:00 Lunch on arrival plus networking Meet part­ners, spon­sors and oth­er stake­hold­ers (Con­fer­ence Centre Foyer)

14:00 Open­ing and welcome Sandy Brem­ner, Con­vener, Cairngorms Nation­al Park Authority

14:10 Min­is­teri­al speech Scot­tish Government

14:30 First key­note address Prof Dav­id Reay, Co-Chair, Just Trans­ition Commission

14:55 Second key­note address Craig Ben­nett, CEO, The Wild­life Trusts

15:20 Break

15:45 Pan­el dis­cus­sion and Q&A Deborah Long (Scot­tish Envir­on­ment LINK), Fiona Milden (Oxy­gen Con­ser­va­tion), Jon­nie Hall (NFU Scot­land) and Sarah Jane Laing (Scot­tish Land and Estates)

16:45 Spon­sor address SSEN Transmission

17:05 Clos­ing remarks Sandy Brem­ner, Con­vener, Cairngorms Nation­al Park Authority

18:15 Walk down to railway

18:30 Jour­ney on the Strath­spey Rail­way (as fea­tured on BBC’s The Trait­ors)

Thursday 17 September

08:30 Field trips Choice of themed field trips across the Nation­al Park, with a focus on our theme of ​‘people and nature thriv­ing together’

16:30 Arrive back in Aviemore Free time to relax and explore the town

18:00 Whisky tast­ing (option­al) Brought to you by The Cairn Distillery

18:30 Drinks reception At Mac­don­ald Aviemore Resort

19:30 Form­al dinner

20:30 Ceilidh

Fri­day 18 September

09:15 Wel­come Pho­tos and reflec­tions from pre­vi­ous day’s visit

09:30 Work­shops Work­shop 1 – wild­fire man­age­ment Work­shop 2 – water man­age­ment Work­shop 3 – Nation­al Parks Part­ner­ship Work­shop 4 – widen­ing participation

11:00 Cof­fee break

11:15 Team Nature Nature recov­ery in our nation­al parks

12:00 Wrap up and feedback Dis­cus­sion on the oppor­tun­it­ies and chal­lenges ahead

12:30 Close of conference Han­dover from Cairngorms to Pem­broke­shire Coast, hosts of the 2028 event