National parks of Scotland are managed areas of outstanding landscape where habitation and commercial activities are restricted. At present, Scotland has two national parks: Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park, created in 2002, and the Cairngorms National Park, created in 2003. These were designated as such under the National Parks (Scotland) Act 2000 which was an early piece of legislation passed by the Scottish Parliament not long after its creation in 1999. It was a Scot, John Muir, who had initiated one of the first national parks in the world, at Yosemite in the United States.
In June 2005, the Scottish Executive announced their intention to create Scotland’s first coastal and marine national park. Five possible locations for this were being considered:
- Solway Firth
- Argyll Islands and Coast
- Ardnamurchan, Small Isles and South Skye Coast
- North Skye Coast and Wester Ross
- North Uist, Sound of Harris, Harris and South Lewis
In 2011 the Scottish Government rejected a proposal to create a national park on the Isle of Harris.
Read more about National Parks Of Scotland: Private Land Ownership, List of Scottish National Parks
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