The Cairngorms National Park Authority (CNPA) is close to running the proposed free one-day courses for people living within the boundaries of the park.

The Cairngorms Awareness and Pride project (CAP) will offer 20 courses aimed at promoting, teaching and training aspects central to the park’s aims and qualities.

An expert in each area, which will include agriculture, wildlife and landscape, will lead each programme.

CAP project manager Kate Christie said: “The scheme will not only give people a number of new skills, but they will work alongside existing groups. It will also see the partnership ethos of the park in action.”

The first programme – Leave No Trace/Minimum Impact – will take place on 21 March in Kincraig and 22 March in Ballater. It will teach people how to respect the countryside, rivers and mountains and leave them as they find them.

Further scheduled courses include: Woodfuel in April; Ticks and Lyme Disease, Pond Creation, and Wildflower identification in May; Habitats of the Cairngorms in June; Landscape History of the Cairngorms in July and Wildlife Appreciation in November.

CNPA and the Heritage Lottery Fund’s Awards for All programme, which offers grants to local groups, are funding the £20,000 project.