Wooded Heights

Granite mountains, subarctic plateaus and ancient Caledonian forests form the landscape of Scotland's Cairngorms. The region’s dramatic geography began to take shape around 425 million years ago when two tectonic plates collided, pushing molten granite to rise to heights greater than the Alps. These peaks were later carved by the giant glaciers and extreme climatic conditions of the Ice Ages, forming the expansive landscape we see today. 

The area is a stronghold for Scots Pines, direct descendants of the first pinewoods that arrived in Scotland following the last Ice Age. These remains have genetically adapted to varying environments and their ecological characteristics form an unbroken 9000-year-old chain of natural evolution. The forest, whose name is derived from the Latin ‘Caledonia,’ refers to ancient Scotland and was originally identified as a temperate rainforest that, at its peak, covered an expanse of 1.5 million hectares.

Above the forest, at the centre of the Cairngorms, lies a plateau. The long winters and brief summers found at this altitude have formed a semi-arctic habitat, where plants and animals more commonly associated with the polar region make their homes. The Cairngorms plateau is the highest, coldest and snowiest in Britain. A powerful and sublime landscape where five of the United Kingdom’s highest mountains lie within its range. This unpredictable environment demands that you respect and work with nature, and by doing so, it enhances a deeper connection to the wilderness. 

Scotland’s forests have long endured a history of human activity, involving centuries of logging, agriculture and hunting. As a result, the Cairngorm's ecosystem now faces extinction, with only 1% of native woodland remaining. Pockets now exist in isolation from one another, resulting in a fragmented landscape. As such, it has become one of the United Kingdom’s most endangered habitats and is home to some of the country’s rarest wildlife.

With status as a National Park, the future of the Cairngorms hangs in the balance of the implementation of effective preservation and regeneration strategies. A bold rewilding initiative called Cairngorms Connect, delivered by the Endangered Landscapes Programme is now in progress. It is working to restore over 600 square kilometres of National Park. A 200-year vision has been planned, which aims to fulfil the potential of the landscape by restoring its natural ecology and to create a new standard for habitat restoration in Britain.

The Cairngorms National Park is at a pivotal stage for its future existence, having now reached a point where humans are allowing the habitat to expand naturally back into its former ranges. This recognition of the growing importance of protecting our wild spaces offers hope, during a time when humans are impacting and accelerating the rate of environmental damage. So much so, that we have entered into a new epoch defined as the Anthropocene.

Documented over the course of three winters, Luke Brown's photographic series ‘Wooded Heights’ focuses on the endangered landscape of Ancient Caledonia Forest and Grampian Mountains of the Cairngorms National Park, with an emphasis on why we need to respect, understand and protect these wild spaces.