Early bidding opens for Scotland's third national park

The Borders is one area which has shown an interest in becoming the country's third national park

Communities are being invited to register an early interest in becoming Scotland's third national park.

There are currently two - the Cairngorms and Loch Lomond and the Trossachs - and both were created almost 20 years ago.

The Scottish government has committed to designating at least one new one by early 2026.

Official nominations are expected to open later this year once the appraisal framework has been finalised.

A draft framework with broad selection criteria for new national parks has also been published for consultation.

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Biodiversity Minister Lorna Slater said: "I think it is time to have a new park, I think it is an exciting proposition when we have got climate and nature crisis ahead of us.

"The national parks play such an important role in tackling biodiversity and nature crisis and they are such great places for recreation to help us stay in touch with nature."

She said securing the status could provide a big boost to the area involved.

"What the national parks bring with them is the ranger services, the investment, the infrastructure," she said.

"Of course there are many parts of Scotland that are heavily visited by tourists and enjoyed by many people that don't have that infrastructure to support them.

"I can see local communities like that saying a national park would be great to help us manage these visitors and bring that investment to our area."

Loch Lomond and the Trossachs already have national park status

The Galloway National Park Association said it had registered its interest "within minutes" of the bidding opening.

Another area known to be keen on the status is the Scottish Borders.

Prof Jane Bower, who chairs the Borders campaign, said it could play a valuable part in bringing together initiatives across the area.

"One of the things that struck us from the start is that there are so many good, relatively small projects going on over the Borders," she said.

"The trouble is, they are run by volunteers and over time - when the founders leave or die or whatever - a lot of good stuff goes to waste because there is no proper way of keeping track of it.

"We reckon that a national park authority could play a very valuable role in co-ordinating that and making sure that things are properly recorded and retained in a way that they remain useful down the years."