What economic, social and environmental benefits have arisen as a result of the designation and management of the Loch Lomond and the Tross…

The Loch Lomond and TheTrossachs National Park was designated in 2002. To date there has not been an assessmentof the economic, social and environmental benefits arising from thedesignation; while many of the benefits which the National Park designationsought to achieve will only be fully realised over a longer period of time, theNational Park Authority, like other public bodies, will be subject to reviewafter its first five years of operation and I envisage that that would providea first opportunity for an assessment of the benefits which the designation hassecured.
In the meantime, the annual reportsof the National Park Authority (copies of which are available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre, Bib. numbers 31754,36160, 39201 and 41312) provide adetailed account of the work which it has undertaken. For example, the NationalPark Authority was able to report in its 2005-06 annual Report and Accounts theachievement of launching a solar powered boat on Loch Lomond, the first of itskind in Scotland, capable of carrying wheelchairs and passengers.