A groundbreaking bid to help save Scotland’s almost-vanished mountaintop forests and their wildlife is being launched by Trees for Life, with the creation in the Highlands of what is thought will be the country’s largest planted area of rare high-altitude woodland. Centuries of overgrazing by sheep and deer have left most of Scotland stripped of the once-common, tough, waist-high ‘wee trees’ such as dwarf birch and downy willow – known as ‘montane’ species because they can grow near mountain summits, despite harsh conditions. In a major expansion of action to reverse the loss of these unique woodlands – home to…

A group of conservation organisations and local groups has come together to publish a new joint vision for the future of Cairn Gorm. The group – comprising Ramblers Scotland, the Cairngorms Campaign, the North East Mountain Trust, the Scottish Wild Land Group and the Campaign for a Better Cairngorm – are calling a modernisation of ski infrastructure, for the dismantling of the funicular railway to be seriously considered, and for future developments that enhance and respect the natural environment that draws visitors to the National Park. The vision (attached) puts forward ideas which support the future of skiing in the…