£12.5m Heritage Horizon Award for Cairngorms National Park Authority's transformational vision
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THE Cairngorms National Park Authority (CNPA) has been awarded a £12.5 million package of National Lottery funding for a ground-breaking and holistic project to tackle the climate emergency and create a wellbeing economy.
The Heritage Horizon Award will be delivered over the next seven years to the Cairngorms 2030: People and Nature Thriving Together project.
Involving more than 45 partners, from NHS Highland to deer management groups, the project places the future in the hands of the people and communities who live and work in the UK's largest national park, as well as those who visit.
Plans include the creation of a nature-based dementia centre and outdoor health programmes. It aims to enhance nature through green finance, woodland expansion, peatland restoration, river catchment management, nature-friendly farming and sustainable transport.
Some 12 jobs will also be created in the area initially.
The Cairngorms are home to 25 per cent of all threatened and rare species, such as capercaillie, wildcats, osprey and golden eagles.
Xander McDade, CNPA convener, said: "On behalf of the over 45 partners, community groups, land managers and voluntary organisations involved in our bid, we’re thrilled that the Cairngorms National Park has received nearly £12.5 million as part of the Heritage Horizon Awards.
"We believe that it is only by communities coming together that we can tackle the climate emergency and nature crisis.
"This funding allows us to take forward critical work in communities and landscapes right across the national park, from the creation of a nature-based dementia centre to citizens’ assemblies fostering local decision-making; from woodland expansion and peatland restoration to nature-friendly farming, sustainable transport, green finance and creating a wellbeing economy."
He added: "Our plans are ambitious but the situation facing our country and our planet demands that we do things differently.
"With the help of National Lottery players, together with our many funding partners, we can now look forward to turning this transformational vision into reality."
Moray SNP MSP Richard Lochhead said: "As one of the local MSPs for the national park, I couldn’t be more delighted that funding has been secured for this transformational project.
"The scale of the challenges facing our local communities and our natural environment as a result of climate change and the loss of biodiversity are enormous and they’ll only be tackled by people working together. This project is an exciting and ambitious example of people doing just that.
"The Cairngorms 2030 project has the potential to give people in its local communities a real opportunity to shape a more sustainable future, where people and nature can thrive together."
Scotland's Minister for Environment, Biodiversity and Land Reform, Màiri McAllan, said the project was a great example of community-based action to tackle the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss and to improve wellbeing.
She added: "The Cairngorms are a national treasure and this work won’t just be transformative for our environment but for local communities and the hundreds of thousands of people who visit the national park every year."
