Outcomes

National Scenic Areas: Scottish Natural Heritage's Advice to Government

The Relationship with other Scenic Designations

Links with National Parks

1. The NSA stands alone as a national scenic designation, but its relationship with National Parks and to regional and local scenic designations is addressed by our advice in this chapter.
2. Government asked SNH for its advice on the establishment of National Parks for Scotland. As part of this request it indicated that National Parks are a means of fostering the integrated management of a few areas of the highest natural heritage value, where a number of complex land use issues required resolution. It was suggested that this approach was needed in Loch Lomond and the Trossachs, probably in the Cairngorms, and possibly in a few other areas. SNH led a wide ranging debate on this issue throughout 1998 and we presented our advice to Government at the end of the year. In February 1999, the Government announced that it accepted SNH’s advice as the basis on which to prepare proposals for legislation by the Scottish Parliament. Our advice proposes National Parks as areas of outstanding natural heritage of special importance to the nation, whose management in perpetuity will safeguard and enrich their natural heritage value, including their natural beauty and amenity. Like NSAs, National Parks signify a national value attached to the landscape of the area. Indeed, the two areas identified as the first National Parks, Loch Lomond and the Trossachs and the Cairngorms, both include NSAs within their potential boundaries.
3. However, National Parks and NSAs are very distinct designations. In particular, the NSA designation has a focus on scenic value and does not have the breadth of purpose and comprehensive integrating role envisaged for National Parks. As a result, NSAs do not require the establishment and powers of a separate statutory body to secure their management, nor the special role envisaged for the National Park Plan.
4. Our advice to Government on National Parks and our consultation paper on NSAs both recognised the potential to reduce the complexity and over-laying of designations within National Parks by removing the NSA designation within them. This view is supported by the majority of responses to our consultation paper, but many also said that their response was conditional on the safeguards for scenic value in National Parks to be no less strong for these ‘former NSAs’. Implicit in SNH’s proposals for National Parks is that the scenic qualities presently identified by the NSA designation would be as effectively pursued through the controls and mechanisms available within National Parks as those we are proposing for NSAs. In practice, we envisage that these ‘former NSAs’ will be identified within the National Park Plan as part of the national scenic resource and as a zone for which the safeguarding and enhancing of the scenic qualities is identified as a key objective of the Park.
5. These ‘former NSAs’ should continue to be recognised as part of the suite of landscapes considered as "representing the best of Scotland’s scenery". Thus, whilst National Parks as a whole encompass "outstanding natural heritage", different areas within them will be valued for different interests; indeed not all of a National Park’s area might qualify as being of such outstanding quality to merit the accolade of NSA designation. SNH’s advice is that:
   NSAs should be subsumed within National Parks, reducing the potential confusion and complexity of overlapping designations, but NSA designation should only be removed once suitable provision has been made in the National Park Plan for safeguarding and enhancing the NSA’s interests; and
   that such ‘former NSAs’ still represent part of the "best of Scotland’s scenery" and this must be recognised in the safeguards and measures applying to them.
6. By far the greater extent of NSAs will fall outwith National Parks and will include NSAs with varying levels of management need. A small number might be considered as potentially requiring National Park designation at some future stage. NSA status and enhanced management through a Strategy will provide the impetus and partnership working necessary to address issues currently, and provide a basis of preparation for National Park status at some time in the future should this be agreed. Those NSAs with the greatest management needs can have a complementary role to National Parks. Most NSAs are unlikely to ever require such an approach due to their size, location, and to having more limited management need: they will be served adequately by our proposals, outlined in Chapter 3.
7. Although few respondents commented on the complementary role of NSAs to National Parks, it was recognised by them that NSAs could not and should not be expected to fulfil a National Park role. We agree, and consider that NSAs are less suited, in particular, to providing strong co-ordination between all the main public bodies involved in the area, to the degree envisaged for Parks. Nor can they lead on social and economic needs beyond those which directly link with scenic interests. The NSA Management Strategy could nonetheless be a powerful tool to tackle many of the problems which arise in areas exhibiting some of these characteristics and, given the will and resources, much can be achieved with a flexible mechanism. Many of the tools available to regulate development and land management in National Parks may be equally applicable in NSAs, suggesting again the need for joint legislation.
8. The NSA designation is, therefore, more appropriate to areas lacking the complexity of issues present in the proposed National Parks. This lighter level of control should not be taken to indicate any less standing. NSAs are recognised by SNH as being no less important than National Parks in terms of their scenic value; it is essential that they should not be regarded as a second tier of designation. SNH advises that:
   whilst NSAs will meet significant conservation management needs of some areas, they cannot meet all of the needs of areas which may be considered as requiring the more all-encompassing approach of National Parks; and
   like National Parks, NSAs should be considered as a natural heritage designation of the highest national standing, identifying the national interest in the scenic qualities of the area, and they should therefore command many of the same tools for regulating development and land use change and encouraging positive management.