Chamber and committees

Under the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003, it is the duty of NatureScot and local authorities and National Park Authorities to publicise the Scottish Outdoor Access Code. The Scottish Government’s public agencies are running promotional campaigns, such as the Sustainable and Responsible Tourism in Scotland initiative (VisitScotland) or the Responsible Access campaign (Cairngorms National Park). These campaigns promote responsible enjoyment of the countryside, as part of the wider national visitor management strategy co-ordinated by VisitScotland.

Figures show there has been widespread public engagement with these campaigns over the spring and summer period. For example, 12.8 million impressions across social media have been received by NatureScot since March 2021.

£2.75 million has been allocated by Scottish Ministers this year for the Better Places Green Recovery Fund, administered by NatureScot, which partly provides for additional seasonal rangers to promote responsible behaviour in line with the access code. We are also providing our National Parks with an extra £3.6 million in 2021 which will also include additional support for seasonal rangers.

With specific regard to water safety, which is an important issue in urban as well as rural areas, the Scottish Government works closely with Water Safety Scotland and other key partners to implement and support initiatives that can help raise awareness of the hazards around water and reduce deaths from accidental drowning. They run a series of campaigns annually, including ‘Drowning Prevention Week’, ‘Don’t Drink and Drown’ and ‘Inflatable Safety’. The Scottish Government also provides annual grant funding to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents to deliver its annual home and water safety programme, which includes providing a secretariat to Water Safety Scotland.

Messaging is performed by a number of public agencies in a number of formats, and cumulative figures on spend are not available.