The news that Galloway is no longer under consideration to be Scotland’s next National Park should send a chill down the spine of everyone campaigning to make the world a better place. That such a popular measure and a designation with so many benefits for the local community and livelihoods could have been dropped by the Scottish Government, seemingly in response to a wave of inaccurate information, is extremely concerning.

The campaign against a Galloway Park had sprung, seemingly, out of nowhere on the day that Galloway was announced as the preferred location for Scotland's new national park, and was supercharged by a PR company which had previously worked, among other things, for the Brexit campaign, on behalf of tax havens and against low emission zones.

One of the key characteristics of the debate over the Park was inaccurate information in the media, which was distributed to residents via mail-drops. We noticed a similarity to the campaign against the deposit return scheme, another one of Action to Protect Rural Scotland's key areas of work, which was also subject to a campaign to discredit it.

These tactics have, once again, proved extremely effective, and the plans for a new National Park in Galloway have been axed.

A detailed look at the consultation analysis confirms that the anti-campaign had an insidious impact on the outcome. The Government made the decision to scrap the Park, despite their knowledge that most of the arguments being used against the National Park had no basis in evidence, whereas the arguments used in support were generally evidence–based.

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Who are the campaigners fighting Galloway National Park?

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