There is just under one week left to get involved in the Cairngorms National Park Authority’s consultation on the possible introduction of recreational fire management byelaws. The 10-week consultation has received more than 1,000 responses since it began on 8 February, with the high level of engagement being welcomed by officers at the Park Authority. “It is great to see so many people getting involved in the recreational fire management byelaws consultation”, said Colin Simpson, Head of Visitor Services and Active Travel at the Cairngorms National Park Authority. “As an organisation, we are ..read more

By Eleanor Mackintosh, Deputy Convener of the Cairngorms National Park Authority board The longer days of spring are welcomed by everyone but particularly by the farming community. More daylight hours – and usually better weather – means we can get more work done around the farm. As a farming family in Glenlivet, we are always busy. We work seven days a week, 52 weeks of the year! Springtime however is probably the most intensive spell in the farming calendar. For us, we have lambing ewes and calving cattle to look after – it’s exhausting but rewarding to see a shed or a field full of healthy ..read more

The Cairngorms Capercaillie Project announces the return of the Lek It Be campaign, aimed at safeguarding one of the UK’s most vulnerable birds – the capercaillie. With only 532 capercaillie remaining in the UK, the Cairngorms National Park is the last stronghold for the species. Disturbance during the breeding season poses a significant threat to capercaillie, impacting their ability to breed and for chicks to reach adulthood. The Lek It Be campaign, initially launched last spring, is dedicated to reducing disturbance to capercaillie and promoting compliance with the law as it is a wildlife c ..read more

Dog owners are being encouraged to do the right thing this spring in the Cairngorms National Park and keep dogs on leads around livestock. The Cairngorms National Park is a living working landscape with farms, crofts and estates and members of the public are reminded of their responsibilities when enjoying the countryside this springtime, particularly in and around farmland areas. Cairngorms National Park Authority board member and farmer Duncan Miller said: “Spring is one of the most important times of the year for sheep farmers. To help us enjoy a successful lambing season and prevent any in ..read more

Alzheimer Scotland’s Outdoor Dementia Resource Centre at Bagaduish has launched its summer programme of activities and expects to welcome hundreds of people from the Cairngorms National Park living with dementia, their family members and carers over the coming months for a wide range of activities. The centre enables people with dementia, their families, and carers to experience the mental and physical benefits of spending time outdoors. The project is part of the Cairngorms 2030 programme, supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund thanks to National Lottery players. From August 202 ..read more

The Cairngorms National Park Authority is set to invest more than £8million over the coming 12 months with spending targeted at projects that help local communities, nature and climate in line with the National Park Partnership Plan. The board of the Cairngorms National Park Authority, meeting in Grantown-on-Spey this morning (Friday 22 March,) approved the organisation’s budget and operational plan for 2024/25. The Park Authority receives core funding of around £9million from Scottish Government with additional finance for the likes of peatland and nature restoration programmes. However, it’s ..read more

By Sandy Bremner, Convener of the Cairngorms National Park Authority board The shortage of affordable housing is hurting our communities and there’s an urgent need for action. That’s the message I took to Scotland’s Housing Minister at our recent meeting when we agreed on the need to speed up measures to tackle a problem that’s been decades in the making. Describing the first part of that message is the easy bit. We’ve seen examples across the country. Some are heartbreaking. People who want to live and work in an area but can’t afford to rent or buy because of the growing gap between wages an ..read more

Published on behalf of the East Cairngorms Moorland Partnership Moorland raptors are doing well in the East Cairngorms Moorland Partnership area of the Cairngorms National Park. The most recent figures show a stable population of at least 12 breeding pairs of golden eagles in 2023, with one or more pairs recorded on every estate in the partnership area. Three pairs successfully hatched young in 2023, each rearing twins. Hatching success throughout the wider north-east Scotland golden eagle population was lower than usual in 2023, with natural causes and poor weather early in the season contrib ..read more

A new family group of Eurasian beavers are settling into their new home after arriving at RSPB Scotland Insh Marshes nature reserve in the Cairngorms National Park on Monday 4 March. The beavers have been released at the nature reserve, the latest of the planned releases in the Cairngorms National Park, as part of a coordinated effort to reestablish the species in the Cairngorms. The release was overseen by translocation experts the Beaver Trust, working in partnership with the Park Authority, landowners RSPB Scotland and Five Sisters Zoo. This follows the Park Authority being granted a licenc ..read more

A 10 week consultation asking the public for their views on the possible introduction of fire byelaws in the Cairngorms National Park starts today (Thursday 8 February 2024). The Cairngorms National Park Authority is carrying out the consultation after its board agreed last year to consider the options for minimising the risks of wildfires starting, in a bid to reduce the risk to people, nature and property in the Park. Wildfire risk is increasing in Scotland and climate modelling shows a predicted increase in drought periods. The Cairngorms National Park is home to 25% of the UK’s rare and en ..read more