Key funding for £5.5m Scottish wildlife discovery centre

A planned new £5.5m visitor centre at the Highland Wildlife Park near Aviemore has secured key funding.

Scotland's Wildlife Discovery Centre has been designed to improve the park visitor experience and be a hub "showcasing" conservation work.

The National Lottery Heritage Fund has announced a £1.9m investment in the facility.

Public agencies NatureScot and Highlands and Islands Enterprise are also contributing towards the cost.

Other funding is being provided by SSE Renewables and a crowdfunding campaign.

Three interconnected timber-framed "hub structures" are to be built at the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland's (RZSS) wildlife park at Kincraig in the Cairngorms National Park.

The discovery hub will be the main visitor area and feature digital technology and interactive displays.

There will also a learning hub and a hilltop hub, which will highlight native species conservation work in the Cairngorms, including work to save the Scottish wildcat.

Caroline Clark, the National Lottery Heritage Fund's director for Scotland, said: "This is an exciting and much-needed project which will improve the experience of visitors and support the tourism economy of the Highlands."

RZSS chief executive David Field said it was "tremendously exciting" to be able to move forward with the project.

He said the hubs would improve the "quality of the experience" of visiting the park and allow people to "deep dive" into the Cairngorms to gain a better understanding of its wildlife, landscape and of the people who live and work there.

Mr Field told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland the generosity of the public through donations and support from the Scottish government had helped the park to survive the pandemic.

He said the new project would help in the local area's recovery from Covid by creating jobs and attracting visitors.