What is a National Park?

Scotland’s National Parks attract extra resources from Government and other sources to help safeguard the natural and cultural heritage, and promote its sustainable use and enjoyment by people. Each Park has a dedicated National Park Authority that helps to plan and co-ordinate work for the long-term interest of the area and also give local people a chance to be more directly involved in its governance.

National Parks in Scotland are different from others around the world because they include aims to help promote the sustainable use of natural resources and the social and economic development of local communities in the Park. Most land in our national parks is not owned by the state. Instead, our National Parks work more through partnership to care for these special places, while recognising the needs of those who live and work there.

The term National Park is used throughout the world to describe protected areas of land or water of outstanding national significance.  The title means different things to different people but all National Parks have some key features in common:

• they are areas of land or water which are of the very highest value to the nation for their scenery and wildlife, and often for their cultural heritage too;
• they are managed in a way that safeguards their special qualities for the long term;
• they are usually highly attractive places to visit and they provide opportunities for people to enjoy them.