The CairnGorm Monitoring Scheme

Is the mountain railway affecting the important European designated conservation sites on Cairn Gorm?

When the mountain railway was developed, it was impossible to tell whether this new development, with its new Visitor Management Plan would cause environmental change because of changed patterns of recreation.

CairnGorm Mountain pays for annual surveys of habitats, footpaths, Dotterel, numbers of people using the car park, railway and footpaths and also periodic surveys of soils, geomorphology and an aerial survey to give early warning of damage caused by the development. The information is independently scrutinised for Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) and The Highland Council by a Monitoring Reporting Officer.

The monitoring from 2002 to date has not noted any serious damage to European Natura sites nor disturbance to rare breeding bird species as a result of the railway development.