Southern Uplands
This covers an area stretching from Galloway to the Cheviots. The scenery is varied with moorland and upland scenery and the glaciated valley between Selkirk and Moffat. Hawick is famous for its Cashmere, and there are several interesting towns strung out across the upland scenery. Largely it it is an area that is not favoured by many tourists. A National park would.act as a strong boost to the area, improving the economy. There are major literary connections Walter Scott, Robert Burns, Hugh Macdiarmid.
The Reivers clans were very active in the debatable lands. Common Ridings are held in several towns. Spirting wise the Melrose 7s. There are links to Mary Queen of Scots Jedburgh and Hermitage.
The Reivers clans were very active in the debatable lands. Common Ridings are held in several towns. Spirting wise the Melrose 7s. There are links to Mary Queen of Scots Jedburgh and Hermitage.
Why the contribution is important
Southern Uplands are a major feature of the Scots Borders. It is largely unrecognised as a tourist area. It’s economy is repressed. A National park would create economic opportunity.
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by Blairb on May 15, 2022 at 08:31AM
Posted by gordonhodge May 16, 2022 at 17:23
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Posted by Prentice May 20, 2022 at 10:58
Galloway and the South of Scotland would be a great area in which to located a National Park.
In response to Gordonhodge's post above:
Hi Gordon, could you give an example of Rare or Endangered species in the Galloway Forest.
Galloway forest can also be explored on foot, cycling or by car according to Forestry and Land Scotland.
Source: https://forestryandland.gov.scot/visit/forest-parks/galloway-forest-park
The Forest park also has red deer and goats that can be seen as well as a loch, Robert the Bruce trail and Dark Sky Park.
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Posted by JanetMoxley May 24, 2022 at 12:36
Admittedly much of the area has been damaged by current land use practices such as overgrazing, grouse moors and commercial forestry, but a National Park designation could help to reverse this and encourage more sensitive management e.g peatland restoration, rewilding and more nature species woodland. This would need to be accompanied by a "just transition for land" to ensure that people currently employed in sheep farming, commercial forestry or gamekeeping are assisted to find new jobs in more sustainable land uses or tourism.
Land ownership in South Scotland is a big issue, as a few large landowners can effectively veto projects which would benefit the majority, and tend to extract a disproportionate amount of available funding. Other than Galloway, which is largely owned by Forest and Land Scotland, much of the area is still owned by the old hereditary families (Duke of Buccleuch, Duke of Roxburghe, the Douglas-Homes etc). Not only do these families own the land, the effectively own their tenants. Anyone who attended meetings about Buccleuch's ambitions to frack around Canonbie would have witnessed the factors and their representatives noting down who was there and who said what. It's far more feudal than anything in the Highland crofting counties, where the power of the big estates was reined in after the clearances.
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Posted by JanetMoxley May 24, 2022 at 12:43
Things that Clydesdale has missed out on include the South of Scotland Enterprise Agency and the Borderlands Growth Deal. Instead it is supposed to have benefitted from the Glasgow City Deal because an unwanted road upgrade is being carried out in East Kilbride. It made it into the Mission Clyde initative as an afterthought, and if SLC have anything to do with it won't be engaging with the Destination Tweed project even though the Biggar area is in the Tweed catchments and there would be definite mileage in linking routes along the Tweed to the Clyde Walkway (if and when SLC get round to extending it beyond Lanark to join the Southern Uplands Way as per their Core Path Plan).
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Posted by Glenmoy May 24, 2022 at 21:21
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Posted by Prentice May 25, 2022 at 13:58
I thought the ecosystem of Galloway was good
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Posted by malcolmrdickson May 28, 2022 at 13:38
The Scottish Government could show, with such a configuration, that it listens to grass-roots movements, does not need to spend as much on these Parks as it does on the existing two, is innovative and creative, and understands rural needs in a part of Scotland which would receive a large boost to the economy by becoming the latest two National Parks in the Borderlands (there are already two in the English Borderlands).
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Posted by camusfearna May 31, 2022 at 11:19
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Posted by Gorr73 May 31, 2022 at 12:05
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Posted by jamiewp1 June 03, 2022 at 13:33
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Posted by Barrview June 06, 2022 at 12:08
These areas have shown that there is a distinct role for both within the context or rural development. The NPs emphasis on the environment and the communities that depend on that environment balance the aspirations of the Enterprise Agency and its drive to generate new jobs and skills.
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Posted by camusfearna June 06, 2022 at 14:37
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