THE Cairngorms National Park could reach net zero within the next three years, according to a report.
The study found that the park could be net zero by 2025 if it delivers on the recently approved Cairngorms National Park Partnership Plan targets.
The report for the park was carried out by carbon accounting specialists, Small World Consulting, who were hired to produce detailed, greenhouse gas, emission assessments for national parks around the UK.
It showed that with fewer residents and visitors compared to other UK national parks and far more capacity for carbon storage, the Cairngorms could reach net zero by 2025.
The research also showed the national park will continue to store significant amounts of carbon from 2025 onwards, helping Scotland and the UK meet their 2045 and 2050 targets.
With the need to adapt to climate change a priority, the Cairngorms National Park partnership plan and the Heritage Horizons: Cairngorms 2030 programme both set out clear targets to ensure that the Cairngorms National Park reaches net zero and then becomes carbon negative.
The partnership plan includes specific commitments to create a minimum of 35,000 hectares of new woodland cover, restore a minimum of 38,000 hectares of peatland, work with farmers and other land managers to encourage sustainable land management, and ensure at least 50% of the National Park is managed principally for ecological restoration by 2045.
Grant Moir, chief executive of the Cairngorms National Park Authority, explained: “The positive carbon contribution that the Cairngorms National Park can make for Scotland in the future is a key element for us.
“National Parks have a significant role to play in tackling both the climate crisis and biodiversity loss and here in the Cairngorms we are meeting those challenges head on.
“The assessment indicates, based on certain assumptions around societal change and progress across all sectors, that net zero could be achieved by 2025 based on the targets set out in the Cairngorms National Park partnership plan.
“Then, in the years following, the park would start to make a significant contribution to carbon storage for the entire country.
“Being the largest national park in the UK, with significant areas of peatland that can be managed to prevent release of greenhouse gases as well as the considerable potential for woodland expansion, is an important factor as we aim for net zero.
“We must ensure that as we go on this journey beyond net zero that we adhere to the principle of a just transition and make sure that the people of the Cairngorms benefit from these changes.”
Xander McDade, Cairngorms National Park Authority convener, said: “This assessment by Small World Consulting demonstrates the important role that the Cairngorms National Park has to play in helping the country to achieve net zero.
“The report also highlights many of the societal changes at a national and international level that are not within our control.”
