Cairngorms National Park could become one of the UK's most important carbon stores
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The Cairngorms National Park is on the path to becoming one of the most important carbon stores in the UK, park chiefs have said.
Member of the park authority's board are being brought up-to-date when they meet today at their Grantown headquarters and will be presented with a greenhouse gas emissions assessment and targets for the region.
The CNPA has just undertaken its first full audit of greenhouse emissions and carbon budgeting following in the footsteps of the pioneering Lake District National Park which has been monitoring both now for a decade.
Independent consultants Small World Consulting have carried out the work locally having become established as world leaders in the field for their work in Cumbria.
They have since been commissioned by each of the UK's national parks for similar audits which allows for comparisons between the various regions.
Not surprisingly the Cairngorms National Park has been found to have relatively small emissions compared to other national parks where reports have been published for areas with more residents, visitors or a combination of both.
And park chiefs are keen to not only meet Net Zero targets in the national park but contribute to the bigger picture.
Gavin Miles, the CNPA's head of strategic planning, informs board members in a report that if all the relevant targets in their plans are met then the CNPA would reach net zero in just two years' time.
He continues: "In the years following 2024/2025, the Cairngorms National Park (CNP) would start to make a significant contribution to carbon storage for Scotland and the UK.
"The fact the CNP is the UK’s largest national park, with significant areas of peatland that can be managed to prevent release of greenhouse gases as well as potential for woodland expansion is an important element in its potential pathway to net zero.
"Put simply, the CNP has a lot of land that can be managed to store carbon more efficiently and compared to areas with a larger resident population or numbers of visitors, has relatively lower carbon emissions from human activity.
"For comparison, the projected net zero date for the Yorkshire Dales National Park is 2033–2034; for the Lake District National Park is 2037 and for the South Downs National Park is 2044."
The report does not attempt to make any distinction between the different routes by which land can be managed to store carbon in future.
Mr Miles explains: "It is the fact that land within the CNP can be managed to store carbon more effectively that matters here, not whether it is funded through a public programme such as the Peatland Action Programme, or via private finance and carbon credits bought by business that is remote from that land.
"The carbon sequestration potential of the national park will be considered as part of Scotland’s contribution, the UK’s contribution and linked to each of its local authorities as well as to owners of land and the people, and institutions who pay to store carbon."
As well as peatland restoration and woodland expansion targets. CNPA bosses said that work is progressing on 'active travel, climate conscious communities and future farming project' that 'all help to raise awareness and support changes to a lower carbon future'.
The CNPA has also said it will from now be provide an annual statement of the progress on carbon emissions in the region.
