Consultation for proposed new National Park in Galloway – Help young people have their say

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Consultation for proposed new National Park in Galloway – Help young people have their say.

NatureScot has opened the formal (statutory) consultation on whether a new National Park should be established in Galloway and parts of South and East Ayrshire. The consultation will include looking at what a potential new Park might include – from its boundary to its board makeup, and even what the Park could be called. It will also seek to gauge opinion on the proposal and alternatives to it.

The consultation will run from 7 November – 14 February 2025 and is accessible on the NatureScot website and in summary, print, audio and Gaelic versions. During the second half of November, a consultation leaflet will be distributed to 52,000 households and businesses within the proposed area.

Public events will be happening across the area in the coming weeks, facilitated by independent consultations on behalf of NatureScot, ensuring that people are supported to share their thoughts and opinions in a positive environment. A list of events that are currently confirmed can be found via the National Parks webpage.

NatureScot have created a short resource to help young people to:

  1. Discover what a National Park is.
  2. Explore how they feel about their area now and what they want to see in the future.
  3. Critically analyse the different views and information that they hear.
  4. Understand how they can contribute to the consultation process.

You can find the resource, keep up to date on the process, and find a link to the consultation surveys (once the formal consultation starts) via the Information Hub – A proposal for a National Park in Galloway. The direct link to the resource is here: Resources for Educators and Leaders Working with Young People.

NatureScot welcome feedback on the resource, and they are keen to see the work young people have created by using it. You can share this with NatureScot by emailing nationalparkreporter@nature.scot before 31 January (the end of the consultation period). All feedback made by young people will be anonymised and will not be published on the Information Hub. It will be used in the consultation analysis report to Scottish Government and in any further consultations