Tourism In The Cairngorms, Scotland - SAC (Scottish Agricultural College)

 

The Cairngorms officially became Scotland’s second National Park in September 2003. As well as being a National Park, this area is also used by for a number of tourist activities.

The Cairngorm funicular is a means of transport, pulled by cables over a track bed, allowing visitor access from the car park area up the mountain plateau. It was designed primarily for winter sports enthusiasts (skiers and snow-boarders) to replace the outdated chairlift system, but is in use all year round. In summer, however, visitors are not allowed to leave the restaurant viewing platform area, due to the potential damage their walking would inflict on the fragile mountain environment and local ecosystem. Much controversy surrounded the granting of the permission for the development to take place, with heated conflicts between conservationists and the developers

Tourism In The Cairngorms, Scotland - SAC (Scottish Agricultural College)

Cairngorm Speyside Deer Management Group

Let me first explain what a Deer Management Group is. The deer herd in the Highlands is wild and largely unconfined by fencing. Therefore in different seasons and wind conditions, red deer will move across different grounds and estates. The traditional make up of highland estates has changed much in the last 30 years and so there will be many different ideas, or aims for land management. It is vital therefore that the different land managers speak to each other to co-ordinate and co-operate over their policy towards deer.

It is generally recognised that red deer, while being a vital wild resource and the source of significant employment opportunities, may be destructive, and some areas have to receive protection from them. Again the extent and severity of that protection has to be a topic that involves all land managers in the area.

Go to DEER management plan

Cairngorm Speyside Deer Management Group

The Cairngorms Campaign Scotland - Welcome to the Cairngorms Campaign

The Cairngorms Campaign is a membership organisation, welcoming individuals and groups as members who support its aims of protection and appreciation of the area.The Cairngorms Campaign strives to prevent unsustainable, damaging developments and argues for better management of the Cairngorms area. It works with landowners, managers, local authorities, government and agencies to this end.

The Cairngorms Campaign Scotland - Welcome to the Cairngorms Campaign

Building ban on second homes in Cairngorms - Times Online

WEALTHY outsiders are to be banned from building new holiday homes in the Cairngorms National Park under plans aimed at stopping rural communities from becoming tourist “ghost towns”. The park wants to restrict the sale of new housing within its 1,467-square-mile boundaries to people who live, work or have family links in the area. It means that outsiders will no longer be allowed to buy or build new housing for use as second homes or as holiday homes for rent. The Cairngorms is Britain’s largest national park, with a vast mountain wilderness at its heart. It encompasses large areas of the Highlands, Moray, Aberdeenshire and Angus and is home to 17,000 people and 25 per cent of Britain’s threatened species.

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Building ban on second homes in Cairngorms - Times Online

Glenmore Lodge

We are Scotland's National Outdoor Training Centre located in the heart of Cairngorms National Park. Learn, develop or qualify in an adventure sport of your choice. Our goal is to inspire adventure by teaching beginners, coaching intermediate/advanced and delivering training and assessment courses for leaders and instructors. Our role is as a national resource to the outdoor industry and community. Whether you are an individual, company, freelancer or offical body, we are here for you.

Adventure Activity Courses Holidays Scotland UK | National Outdoor Training Centre | Glenmore Lodge

Sport Scotland

 

We are the national agency for sport in Scotland.  We put sport first.

We passionately believe in the benefits of sport, from the enjoyment and sense of achievement that participation brings, to the shared pride that national success generates. 

We believe that sport makes a unique contribution to life in Scotland, helping to make us a wealthier, fairer, smarter, healthier, greener, safer and stronger nation.

Our mission is to encourage everyone in Scotland to discover and develop their own sporting experience, helping to increase participation and improve performances in Scottish sport.

About us home

Future of the Cairngorms

The Cairngorms are Britain's premier mountain range. Their scale, their altitude, and their value as wilderness country - for recreation and for nature conservation - are without equal in these islands. They stand near the centre of Scotland, between the straths of the rivers Dee and Spey.

http://www.nemt.org.uk/future.htm

Transboundary Aquifers of the World - Isarm

PDF map available for downloading

The map is about Transboundary Aquifers (TBAs). It shows the present state of information regarding the occurrence and extent of TBAs world-wide. The intention of the map is to provide a global overview of these important shared water resources and to encourage their further assessment. The back of the map contains an introduction to a methodology for assessment of TBAs

Transboundary Aquifers of the World - Isarm

BBC News Player - Park resort plan considered

VIDEO

A major development centred around a holiday resort is to be considered by Cairngorms National Park Authority's planning committee.

BBC News Player - Park resort plan considered

Scottish mountain snow melting

VIDEO

BBC NEWS | UK | Scottish mountain snow melting

Ramsar

Wetlands are among the world's most productive environments. They are cradles of biological diversity, providing the water and primary productivity upon which large numbers of plant and animal species depend for survival. They are also important locations of plant genetic diversity and support large numbers of bird, mammal, reptile, amphibian, fish and invertebrate species. Wetlands provide tremendous economic benefits through their role in supporting fisheries, agriculture and tourism, and through much of the world they have a crucial role as a source of clean water for dependant human populations. Unfortunately they are also among the world's most threatened ecosystems, owing mainly to continued drainage, pollution, over-exploitation or other unsustainable uses of their resources.

The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat (Ramsar Convention or Wetlands Convention) was adopted in Ramsar, Iran in February 1971 and entered into force in December 1975. The Convention covers all aspects of wetland conservation and wise use. The Convention has three main 'pillars' of activity: the designation of wetlands of international importance as Ramsar sites; the promotion of the wise-use of all wetlands in the territory of each country; and international co-operation with other countries to further the wise-use of wetlands and their resources. The Convention's Contracting Parties have assumed a wide range of related obligations. Current details of Contracting Parties to the Convention, and the number and extent of Ramsar sites designated globally, are available on the Ramsar website http://www.ramsar.org/.

Ramsar

Environment - Nature & Biodiversity

 

Natura 2000 is the centrepiece of EU nature & biodiversity policy. It is an EUwide network of nature protection areas established under the 1992 Habitats Directive. The aim of the network is to assure the long-term survival of Europe's most valuable and threatened species and habitats. It is comprised of Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) designated by Member States under the Habitats Directive, and also incorporates Special Protection Areas (SPAs) which they designate under the 1979 Birds Directive. Natura 2000 is not a system of strict nature reserves where all human activities are excluded. Whereas the network will certainly include nature reserves most of the land is likely to continue to be privately owned and the emphasis will be on ensuring that future management is sustainable, both ecologically and economically.The establishment of theis network of protected areas also fulfils a Community obligation under the UN Convention on Biological Diversity.

Natura 2000 applies to Birds Sites and to Habitats Sites, which are divided into biogeographical regions. It also applies to the marine environment.

Environment - Nature & Biodiversity

Cairngorms - Special Area of Conservation - SAC - Habitats Directive

 

Cairngorms - Special Area of Conservation - SAC - Habitats Directive

MCofS; Cairn Gorm Funicular campaign

 

MCofS; Cairn Gorm Funicular campaign

Rothiemurchus, Aviemore

Rothiemurchus is a special place at the heart of the Cairngorms National Park, near Aviemore, in the Scottish Highlands. It offers a warm welcome, stunning scenery and outdoor activities for individuals, families, groups and corporate parties to enjoy.

Rothiemurchus, Aviemore, Scotland for Walking, Outdoor Activities, Camping and Shopping

Protecting nature and the economy

Grantown Grammar School in the Highlands is next to Cairngorms National Park. School Reporters investigate if it is possible to protect both nature and local peoples' livelihoods.

VIDEO

BBC NEWS | School Report | Protecting nature and the economy

Essentials of Geology : Chapter 18 : Animations

Glacial advance and retreat is determined by the balance between the accumulation of snow and the removal of ice by sublimation, melting, and calving (ablation). When the rate of ablation below the snowline equals the rate of accumulation above it, the glacier is stationary, as in View 1. During glacial retreat, View 2, the rate of ablation exceeds the rate of accumulation, and the position of the toe retreats toward the origin of the glacier. Glacial advance, View 3, occurs when the rate of accumulation exceeds the rate of ablation. For all views, pay attention to the motion of the stones. Note that in all cases, ice flows downhill.

ANIMATIONS

Essentials of Geology : Chapter 18 : Animations

Images of Cairngorm

 

Galleries

Cairngorm Landscapes

The Cairngorms form some of the most cherished scenery of the Scottish Highlands. These are granite hills - the Cairngorm Granite intrusion is one of the largest in the British Isles and displays fine examples of classic granite landforms. The Cairngorms is equally a glacially-shaped terrain that exhibits splendid corries, over-deepened valleys and roches moutonnées. The mountains provide a world-class example of a landscape of selective linear glacial erosion. Here glacial erosion has been concentrated in the glens whilst the adjacent plateau has been left largely untouched by the passage of ice. The magnificent natural sculptures of the summit tors include features over half a million years old. The Cairngorms includes the largest area of high ground in Britain. The climate of the high tops is as severe as in arctic regions and a range of cold-climate landforms are developed, reflecting the central importance of frost action both now and in the past. Much scenery-shaping activity continues today, under the savage impact of avalanches, wind storms and floods and the unseen but relentless onslaught of weathering and erosion

Cairngorm Landscapes

Braemar Guide

Braemar, or Braigh Mharr in Gaelic (which finally died out locally as a spoken language about 1900), is not only redolent with Scottish history, but is a land of superlatives. It is the highest and most mountainous parish in the UK, with each of its 182,000 acres being more than 1000ft above sea level (the Post office, in the village centre, is at 1110ft).

The area contains within its borders some 24 Munros, or mountains of over 3,000ft, with three over 4,000ft. It is also the only parish in the country to border with four of the old counties (Banffshire, Inverness-shire, Perthshire and Angus). It has the highest 18-hole golf course in the country, and shares with Perthshire the Cairnwell Pass, at 2,100ft the highest through road in the country, which on the Braemar side passes through the Glenshee Ski Centre.

Braemar Guide :: About Braemar :: Views of Braemar