National Access Forum - 10 June 2026

National Access Forum – 69th meeting on Wednesday 10th June 2026, 10:30 – 14:20

Hybrid meeting – In-person at Battleby and Virtual via MS Teams

1. Welcome, introductions and apologies – Richard Barron – 10:30 – 10:45
    
2. Minutes of previous meetings, action points and matters arising – Richard Barron – 10:45 – 10:55

AP 68/1: NAFSec to invite Amber Cowan to speak to NAF about her research on signage and circulate link to her talk at RSPB Recreation in Nature Conference – discharged 

AP 68/2: NAF members who would like to be involved with planning of NAF/LAF 2026, please get in touch with NAFSec – discharged

AP 68/3: NAFSec to send link to RSPB Recreation in Nature Conference to Commercial and Events sub-group members – discharged

AP 68/4: Rhianna Montgomery to share link to NFUS campaign on lambing and livestock with NAFSec who will send it to members – discharged

3. NatureScot Chair – Colin Galbraith – 10:55 – 11:25
    
4. Enjoying nature and the outdoors + SOAC promotion and behaviour change – Bridget Jones – 11:25 – 11:45
    
5. Resources for access sub-group update – Gavin Corbett – 11:45 – 11:55
    
6. SOAC communications – Rhiannon Law – 11:55 – 12:10
    
7. SOAC supporting guidance review programme – Caroline Fyfe – 12:10 – 12:40

• Commercial/events guidance sub-group update – Fiona Murray

Lunch – 12:40 – 13:10

8. Signage – Amber Cowan/Richard Armstrong – 13:10 – 13:30
    
9. Legal opinion on drones under the LR(S)A 2003 – Bridget Jones – 13:30 – 13:40
    
10. National Access Forum membership review – Ali Tait – 13:40 – 13:50
     
11. NAF/LAF 2026 – Ali Tait – 13:50 – 14:00
     
12. Private level crossings and core paths sub-group update – Sue Hilder – 13:50 – 14:00
     
13. Meeting dates and agenda items – Richard Barron – 14:00 – 14:10

• NAF meeting – 7th October 2026 – venue tbc
• Agenda item – Convenor second term    
   

14. A.O.B. – 14:10 – 14:20

• Future Routes Fund – Ali Tait
• Transcribing future NAF meetings

Close – tea and coffee

Author: Rhiannon Law, Communications Officer, NatureScot

Spring campaign results

The spring Scottish Outdoor Access Code (SOAC) paid campaign ran from 16th February to 27th March. Highlights included:

• Paid social media adverts (on Meta and Snapchat) achieved an overall click-through rate of 2.72% (an increase of 183% on last spring’s CTR) and the overall cost per click reduced by -58.6%, resulting in a strong performance and value for money.
• Strong influencer performance generated nearly 121,000 views and high engagement rates.
• Radio reached over 1 million adults in Scotland.

For this spring SOAC campaign, we partnered with two influencers: Mark-Antony Yorkston (@HikingWithMark on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok) and Sean Hannah (@SeanTheSheepman on TikTok and Facebook). We felt this was a strong pairing as Mark’s polished, cinematic style would complement Sean’s more authentic and conversational style while both post on different channels and to different audiences, helping broaden the campaign’s overall reach. Both influencers successfully communicated NatureScot’s SOAC guidance, particularly around responsible dog walking, while also mentioning other general tips such as picking up litter and leaving no trace.

Activities planned and in progress

We will continue to use content from influencers and advertising on social media and radio to highlight our summer seasonal messages.

We also published a SOAC-themed quiz on the Commonplace online citizen engagement platform to encourage people to test their knowledge of the Code and help us better understand how well it is understood. After posting the link to the quiz on the SOAC website to get initial feedback before the pre-election period began, we received just under 300 responses. We are currently planning wider promotion now that the election is over, including sending the link to subscribers on the Commonplace platform.

We are continuing work to refresh the SOAC website to provide clear navigation paths for the public and land and access managers. Through this process we will also ensure that the updated content reflects the current range of outdoor activities and ways that people access the outdoors, while emphasising the continuing relevance of the principles and retaining the essential information from the Code.

We are also redesigning the current graphics in formats suitable for sharing on social media and for on-site posters, focusing on key Code-related topics.

NatureScot
June 2026
 

Purpose

This paper updates the Forum on NatureScot’s review of guidance on the Outdoor Access Scotland website.

Action

The Forum is asked to note progress since the last meeting on 18 February 2026, as follows:

• Memorandum of Understanding on the use of private level crossings (PLCs) for non-motorised public access in Scotland was published on 26 February and Network Rail issued a press release on 12 May
   
• Open Fires and BBQs in the Outdoors guidance has been updated
   
• ongoing work with updating:
  • Outdoor events in Scotland guidance
  • Managing tent-based camping in Scotland guidance
     
• Proposal submitted to Scottish Government for minor updates (not review) to SOAC and Annex 1 Existing criminal offences created by statute
   
• a new section titled ‘Legal opinions on matters relating to access rights’ has been added to the NAF guidance documents web page
  • Opinion – drones and access rights (March 2026)
  • Opinion - promotion of access routes and landowner liability (May 2024)

Background

NatureScot provided a paper for the NAF meeting on 18 September 2024 outlining plans for reviewing and updating guidance on the Outdoor Access Scotland website. We committed to liaise with the organisations involved in producing each guidance document, and seek input and endorsement from the Forum on the National Access Forum guidance documents and any others of relevance. A ‘NAF approval stamp’ is used on guidance approved by the Forum.

Guidance review – progress

The table below provides a summary of progress since the last NAF meeting.

NatureScot
June 2026

Proposed new guidance 

Other guidance

Opinion on drones and access rights from legal advisers, Harper Macleod LLP.