It is not hard to find superlatives to describe tha land and the wildlife of the Cairngorms, from the snowbeds of the high tops to the swathes of boreal forest in the glens and valleys below. The mountain massif at the heart of the area holds the greatest expanse of ground over 900m in Britain. Ice, snow, wind and water have shaped the red granites of the central Cairngorms and moulded the plant and animal communities that live there to yield striking parallels with the Arctic, making this the most important area for montane wildlife in the European Community.