National parks in England and Wales should not be protected as “wildernesses”

Nick Boles, the UK government planning minister has spoken in a debate in parliament on planning rules and suggested we should not be protected national parks as “wildernesses”. If only they were! National parks in England and Wales (as well as those in Scotland) are classified as Category V under IUCN’s  classification of protected areas, … Read more

WRi work drives Scottish policy on wild land

The Scottish Government published their third National Planning Framework (NPF3) and draft Scottish Planning Policy (SPP) on Tuesday 30 April 2103. This will influence development plans across Scotland and guide future planning decisions on a range of sectors including transport, energy and infrastructure. Section 2.20 focuses on wild land and states: “SNH has been updating … Read more

Mapping Wild Scotland

The WRi is currently undertaking mapping work for the John Muir Trust to develop a reconnaissance level map of wildland in Scotland for planning and policy purposes.