Professor Chris O'Neil, Principal & Chief Executive
"As the local provider or further and higher education, as well as world-class academic research, we strongly support the nomination for the Affric & Loch Ness National Park and are delighted to contribute our expertise to the consultation and nomination process. A national park designation would help retain and attract young people to the area by providing sustainable employment and housing opportunities.
CEO - Trees for life
A new national park, centred on Glen Affric but extending to Loch Ness and the west coast, has the potential to enable nature restoration at a scale that will help biodiversity to recover and lock carbon in trees and peatland to help with the climate crisis. The investment that nature recovery will generate, coupled with shrewd governance involving local people, will unlock the potential of this area for local communities and visitors alike, creating a vibrant local economy that serves all who live and work in the area. Trees for Life is proud to be a partner in this initiative and is committed to support the proposal as it develops.
Proprietor
Proprietor, Brad Collins said ''As the local village store in Cannich we fully support the SCCs nomination of our beautiful area to become a National Park. We are fortunate enough to live in one of the most spectacular areas in the world and this is a natural beauty that needs the protection that a National Park will provide and allow us to share this beauty with those who choose to visit the area for years to come.''
Matt Jones
As a local business owner and outdoor sports enthusiast, I am happy to support the nomination for Affric and Loch Ness National Park. I believe that national park designation could be an opportunity for local communities to protect and enhance our iconic glens for future generations to enjoy.
Susan Clark, Chair
"GURCA (Glen Urquhart Rural Community Association) supports the process of community consultation being conducted into proposals for a National Park covering the Glen Affric and Loch Ness area. As the local community development trust, hearing the views of our community is key and centre to everything that we do and allows us to develop and implement projects which have the support of our members and in line with our Community Action Plan."
Councillor - Highland Council
I enthusiastically support the bid for national park status being led by Cannich Community Council and others. Glen Affric is frequently cited as the most beautiful glen in Scotland, and presents itself as the architype of a Scottish glen – with one road into the main tourist areas, and then a large area only accessible on foot via the ancient drove road to the west coast. This allows it to have both access to the general public, and a more undisturbed area for wildlife. As such it has been a hub for environmentalists for decades. The Glen has been the focus of a largescale project by Trees for Life charity to restore the Great Caledonian Forest – with the stated aim, hopefully to be achieved within the next three or four years, of allowing a red squirrel to travel from the west coast to close to the east coast, without ever touching the ground. The improved biodiversity that this tree planting initiative has offered provides a basis for expanding it to a wider area – and it is also something which national park status will help to protect for the future. The bid includes a much wider area, due to enthusiastic requests from other areas to be involved. It includes part of the Loch Ness shoreline, Loch Ness being internationally the best known geographical feature of Scotland – thanks largely to the Celtic mythological water monster that lives there. Indeed the whole area is steeped in Celtic mythology and the Gaelic which describes and interprets the landscape, and so provides an excellent opportunity to develop and explain Celtic lore and Gaelic – the almost forgotten keystones to how our ancestors understood and worked with nature. Minority ethnic languages like Gaelic are known to deserve protection for the unique knowledge of local nature that they describe, and Glen Affric National Park will help build this understanding. Following representations from enthusiastic communities elsewhere to be included, the bid also involves communities to the north and east of the glen, offering a wide variety of different landscapes, from west coast rainforest to northern hills and mountains, and the glen itself. It will offer economic opportunities to a significant number of small communities with limited economic development, and very little to keep young people in their area and, in the north and west in particular, a growing problem of rural depopulation. Sustainable rural regeneration is at the heart of the Glen Affric National Park. The bid builds on the extensive biodiversity regeneration work, protecting it and increasing it, while offering economic regeneration opportunities to a significant number of small communities across the area, from Achnasheen to Glen Moriston to Dornie. I enthusiastically support it and wish the bid team every success.
Chair - Kilmorack Community Council
Kilmorack Community Council supports the consultation and nomination process for Affric & Loch Ness National Park
Highland Council
Councillor Dr Christopher Birt supports the nomination for the Affric & Loch Ness National Park