National parks of Scotland

Stob Binnein in the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park
UK National Parks
England
Northern Ireland
Scotland
Wales
Parentheses denotes the year. An area with ‡ has similar status to a UK National Park. Areas marked † are proposed.

The national parks of Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: Pàirc Nàiseanta) are managed areas of outstanding landscape where some forms of development are restricted to preserve the landscape and natural environment. At present, Scotland has two national parks: Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park, created in 2002, and the Cairngorms National Park, created in 2003.[1]

Unlike the national parks of many other countries, the national parks of Scotland are not areas of uninhabited land owned by the state. The majority of the land is in the ownership of private landowners (including conservation bodies such as the National Trust for Scotland), and people continue to live and work in the parks. Although the landscapes often appear "wild" in character, the land is not wilderness, as it has been worked by humans for thousands of years.[2] Like their English and Welsh counterparts the national parks of Scotland are effectively "managed landscapes", and are classified as IUCN Category V Protected Landscapes because of this.[3] National parks are only one of a number of designations used to protect and conserve the landscape and natural environment of Scotland.[4] Public access to all land in Scotland is governed by the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003, which grants the public the freedom to roam on most land (and water) for activities such as walking, camping, cycling, canoeing, swimming and climbing; this right applies to land regardless of ownership or whether or not it is in a national park, providing it is exercised responsibly (as defined by the Scottish Outdoor Access Code).[5]

Part of a series on the
Biodiversity of Scotland
Biodiversity
Conservation
Special Areas of Conservation
Organisations
Wildlife Trusts
Areas
Natural history
Natural history
  1. ^ "National Park". Scottish Natural Heritage. 2017. Retrieved 2018-01-15.
  2. ^ "Wildness in Scotland's Countryside" (PDF). Scottish Natural Heritage. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-01-17. Retrieved 2018-01-16.
  3. ^ "The IUCN Categories". National Parks UK. 2017. Retrieved 2018-01-15.
  4. ^ "National Designations". Scottish Natural Heritage. Retrieved 2018-01-16.
  5. ^ "Scottish Outdoor Access Code" (PDF). Scottish Natural Heritage. 2005. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-09-23. Retrieved 2018-01-16.