Understanding the Cairngorms

Renowned for their dramatic and distinctive landscape, the
Cairngorm Mountains lie at the heart of the Scottish
Grampian Highlands. The mountains and the surrounding
area are amongst the most heavily used upland regions of the
United Kingdom, supporting in various ways a significant part of
the central Grampian Highlands economy. Forming the core of
the recently designated Cairngorms National Park, the
mountains host one of Europe’s finest groups of landscape
features; some of these predate the ice ages, some were formed
during the ice ages, and their development continues today. They
presently support a sub-arctic fauna and flora. The landscape,
climate and wildlife combine to produce a mountain
environment unique in the UK. The landscape features contain a
wealth of information about past environmental change and how
the landscape evolved through arid, tropical and arctic periods to
today’s temperate climate. The Cairngorms are recognised
internationally for their Earth heritage value, and are included on
the UK’s ‘Tentative List’ of World Heritage sites, submitted to
UNESCO. Developing and implementing policy in the
Cairngorms is politically sensitive, as shown by the recent furore
over developing the Cairngorm Mountain Funicular Railway and
the protracted and often heated debate over the National Park’s
status, extent and planning framework.