Cairngorms National Park to benefit from £12.5m funding
The park say the money will help tackle the climate emergency and nature crisis
Britain's largest national park is set to receive £12.5 million pounds over the next seven years.
Cairngorms National Park has been awarded the money via the National Lottery's £50m Heritage Horizon Awards fund.
The Park say the funding will go towards tackling climate emergency and nature crisis, delivering an economy that works for all.
Community spirit will help tackle climate emergency
More than 45 different partners are involved with the Cairngorms 2030: people and nature thriving together project.
The funding will help create a nature-based dementia centre, and enhance nature through and create 12 jobs in the area, with the possibility of further recruitment in later phases of the project.
Cairngorms National Park Authority Convener, Xander McDade said they're "thrilled" to receive the funding.
He said: "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 well-being economy.
"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."
Cairngorms to play 'key role' in Scotland's net zero target
Scottish Government Minister for Environment, Biodiversity and Land Reform, Màiri McAllan, said: "Scotland has world leading ambitions to reach net zero by 2045 in a way that is fair and just.
"Our national parks will play a key role in making that happen.
"With COP26 coming to Glasgow this year, this project is a great example of community based action to tackle the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss and to improve wellbeing.
"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."