NEW national parks can help support viable farm businesses, according to an environmental charity.

The Scottish Environment Link (SEL) study comes after SNP rural affairs secretary Mairi Gougeon announced that, pending further consultation, Dumfries and Galloway will be home to Scotland’s next national park.

But many farmers oppose the move, with 93 per cent of National Farmers Union members branding plans for a new park “unacceptable,” while its vice-president Alasdair Macnab slammed existing parks as having “failed to make a positive contribution to farming and crofting.”