Proposed Galloway National Park: EIR release

Information requested

We have interpreted your request as asking for the following:

1: Why are you committed to a New National Park by 2026 given that the Cairngorm National Park has concerns over rising tourism and fire risk as noted in their documentation?

2: Do you hold any data on the damage to wildlife to from wild fires?

3: Can you please validate your claim that Scotland is leading the world on tackling the twin crises of climate change and ecological decline? Where is the evidence?

4: I now ask if you have any information on damage to wildlife, the environment and carbon emissions due to wild fires in Scotland. Any time frame data would be appreciated.

5: Do you fund the SFRS with less than they require?

6: Do you take no responsibility for firefighting in the National Parks?

7: How much more money will be spent liaising between NatureScot, the Government and SFRS?

Response

As the information you have requested is ‘environmental information’ for the Purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to deal with your request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA.

This exemption is subject to the ‘public interest test’. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.

Question 1

The Scottish Government’s Programme for Government 2021-22 committed the Scottish Government to designating at least one new national park by the end of this parliamentary session, should legal conditions be met. This was debated in Parliament in June 2022 and a public call was issued in October 2023 to local communities and organisations across Scotland to submit nominations for their area to become Scotland’s next national park. Five nominations were appraised in the Spring of 2024 with the Galloway and Ayrshire bid selected for further investigation and subsequently the Scottish Government proposed the designation of Scotland’s third national park to be located in Galloway and east Ayrshire.

NatureScot was appointed as the statutory reporter and was asked to conduct an investigation into the proposal for a new National Park in Galloway. This investigation included extensive public consultation to ensure that people living and working within the area had an opportunity to discuss the issues, consider the detail of the proposal (including the desirability of a National Park in the area) and suggest any alternatives. Following a period of engagement with community councils, local authorities, public bodies and a wide range of local stakeholders, NatureScot undertook a formal public consultation between 7 November 2024 and 14 February 2025 and provided it’s report to the Scottish Government on 5 May 2025.

After careful deliberation the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands, Mairi Gougeon, confirmed in Parliament on 29 May 2025 that Galloway and Ayrshire would not become Scotland’s third National Park.

The Scottish Government remains firmly committed to our existing National Parks and we remain open to proposals for the creation of new National Parks in the future.

However, the designation of a new National Park is a complex and detailed process that takes time to work through. There are therefore no plans to revisit other nominations for a new National Park in this Parliament.

Questions 2 and 4

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not hold the specific information you have requested as we do not hold data and/or information in relation to damage caused to wildlife, the environment or carbon emissions by wildfires. Therefore, with respect to your request this is a formal notice under Regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs confirming that the Scottish Government does not hold this information.

It may help if I explain that as part of the response to your request we have conducted a search of the Scottish Government’s main records filing system and have been unable to locate the information requested. I would also note that a search request was submitted to Scottish Government Officials which also resulted in no information being identified that would be within the scope of your request.

This exception is subject to the ‘public interest test’. It is important to note that although we do not hold the information and have applied Regulation 10(4)(a) – information not held, it is a requirement that we have to apply the public interest test.

Wider guidance on the Environmental Information regime can be found in the Key Concepts section under ‘Information Not Held’ and ‘The Public Interest Test’ in the attached Scottish Information Commissioner Briefings and Guidance document.Further guidance on the public interest test can also be found on page 8 of the Scottish Information Commissioner guidance.

Question 3

Under regulation 6(1)(b) of the EIRs, we do not have to give you information which is already publicly available and easily accessible to you in another form or format. Where information is already publicly available I have provided you with the links to the relevant websites. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the websites listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.

On 26 June 2024, the then Minister for Climate Action, Gillian Martin, provided a statement to the Scottish Parliament on Tackling the Climate Emergency which highlighted the Scottish Government’s role in addressing the global challenge of climate change in addition to outlining a number of the actions taken to address both this and biodiversity loss in line with our climate change legislation which set a target date for net zero emissions of all greenhouse gases by 2045.

The Environment and Climate Change section of the Scottish Government website provides the latest information on a wide range of policy work ranging from Climate Change and Biodiversity to Forestry and Wildlife Management being undertaken by the Scottish Government that you may wish to review. I have provided links below to the above noted policy areas that you may find helpful:

Climate change - gov.scot

Biodiversity - gov.scot

Forestry - gov.scot

Wildlife management - gov.scot

Question 5

As outlined in our previous response of 12 May 2025 (202500461565), as part of the Scottish Governments 2025-26 budget the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) was provided with £412.2 million which is an increase of £18.8 million versus the 2024-25 budget. This uplift includes £14.8 million to support delivery of front-line services and £4m to improve facilities for firefighters. You may wish to review Table 7.16 of the full budget document which provides a comparison of SFRS budget figures and can be found on page 68.

Question 6

As required by Section 40 of the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005, as amended by the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012, the Fire and Rescue Framework for Scotland 2022 (the Framework – published by the Scottish Government on 29 March 2022), provides guidance to the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) on its strategic priorities and objectives. These are set out in the context of the overarching purpose that the SFRS should adhere to in carrying out its functions. The Framework is the key document that sets out Ministerial priorities for SFRS and it is against the Framework that SFRS is held to account.

Climate change is identified as one of the seven strategic priorities in the Framework which requires the SFRS to invest in the provision of specialist resources and in technological advancements, and to undertake prevention and public awareness activity, to enhance its response to the increased flooding and wildfires incidents that are associated with climate change.

The Framework also asks SFRS to continue working with other public sector partners and communities to support action to address the climate emergency including the challenges of more extreme weather events, such as wildfires, that we are seeing more often.

Further information on actions being taken by the Scottish Government to help the SFRS improve the safety and wellbeing of our communities can be found here.

Question 7

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not hold the specific information you have requested as we do not hold a total figure for expenditure incurred by the Scottish Government, NatureScot or the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) in relation to liaising between said organisations. Therefore, with respect to your request this is a formal notice under Regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs confirming that the Scottish Government does not hold this information.

It may help if I explain that Scottish Government Civil Servants operate flexibly across a range of policies and programmes according to the specific requirements of their work at any given time. They do not, as a matter of course, record the proportion of their time spent working on particular matters. It is therefore not possible to provide a total expenditure figure regarding how much the Scottish Government has spent on work by Civil Servants in relation to any liaising with either NatureScot or the SFRS.

You may wish to contact NatureScot and the SFRS directly as they may be able to provide some of the information you are seeking for their respective organisations. I have provided contact information for each below for your convenience:

• Freedom of Information requests | NatureScot
• Access to information | Scottish Fire and Rescue Service

This exception is subject to the ‘public interest test’. It is important to note that although we do not hold the information and have applied Regulation 10(4)(a) – information not held, it is a requirement that we have to apply the public interest test.

Wider guidance on the Environmental Information regime can be found in the Key Concepts section under ‘Information Not Held’ and ‘The Public Interest Test’ in the attached Scottish Information Commissioner Briefings and Guidance document. Further guidance on the public interest test can also be found on page 8 of the Scottish Information Commissioner guidance.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.