This article appears as part of the Winds of Change newsletter.

You would think from the news coverage that the only people who have a strong view on the idea of a Galloway National Park, are farmers (who don’t want it) and that everyone else either doesn’t care or stands in solidarity with their agricultural neighbours.

The battle for Galloway has seemed like the National Farmers Union versus the Scottish Government and NatureScot; the No Galloway National Park Campaign against the Galloway National Park Association; farmers versus what are sometimes styled as the faceless bureaucrats.

But the news today that the John Muir Trust is backing the park, reminds us that there are other groups and organisations with strong feelings.

The Trust’s entry into the debate also serves as a reminder that 110 years after the death of John Muir, the Scot who became the father of National Parks, there are still only two national parks in his birthland.

Thomas Widrow, head of campaigns for John Muir Trust said: "We stand by communities who fight to protect and celebrate the wild places they love. We must protect and restore natural processes to tackle the joint nature and climate crises. Designating a new National Park will help Scotland do exactly that.“

It may be hard to remember, but once upon a time, there was enthusiasm for National Parks. In 2022, NatureScot carried out an opinion survey of the Scottish adult population, carried out for NatureScot in 2022, showed that 89% of people in Scotland either strongly support or tend to support the creation of one or more new National Parks, with only 3% opposing.

But the latest survey to hit the news, a poll by NFU Scotland, found that 73% of 2,000 respondents, only 33% of which were farmers, were against........

© Herald Scotland