Green Highlands

Look at the landscape of the Highlands and you are looking at an environment that stretches back nearly 3000 million years. That environment contains Britain’s highest mountains, its deepest and biggest lochs, the most westerly point on the mainland, and some of the oldest rocks on the planet. Those are the foundation for the Highlands environment we see today. Cataclysmic forces have changed and shaped our countryside, the animals that live there, and how we enjoy this fascinating part of the British Isles.

Imagine the scene 400 million years ago. Two of the massive plates that make the planet’s surface are colliding. Relentlessly grinding and pushing together, they bring unbelievable forces to bare, twisting and distorting the land, creating massive fractures and new mountain ranges. This is Scotland’s version of the San Andreas Fault and it shapes the Highlands of the 21st century. The fault line runs diagonally from Inverness to Fort William. The world famous Loch Ness was one of the fractures formed by this collision. Not only is it home to Nessie, there is also more water in the loch than in all the lochs in England and Wales added together. To the west and east, this collision created new mountain ridges, perhaps at the time reaching the height of the Alps or even the Himalayas. Several ice ages which covered all but the highest mountain peaks, then millions of years of erosion, eroded and carved out the hills that we see today. Yet they remain an iconic image, standing watch over the Highlands environment we know today and providing the backdrop to our 21st century lives.

The ‘green’ section and information within Highland Key has been created by Archie Prentice of Practically Green.