Scotland’s mountains are globally renowned for their natural beauty, shaped by geology and nature. We campaign to protect them, not just for hill walkers, mountaineers and climbers, but for all those who cherish them.
Working with partners, we take a leading role in challenging insensitive developments in Scottish mountain landscapes – developments that can damage their unique character, their natural habitats, the views to and from them, and our freedom to enjoy them. Experience shows that often one development leads to another, resulting in progressively more damage. We want to halt this trend.
Our conservation strategy sets out how we will work towards achieving the aims set out in Respecting Scotland's Mountains. The strategy offers proposals and actions that
protect and improve the natural environment, for the benefit of the
land and the people.
Read about our conservation strategy
We respond to specific development proposals
which we feel damage Scotland’s wild land. We have strict criteria for
whether we will object to a planning application. Though we respond to
very few, the ones we do oppose could have a huge impact on some iconic
mountain landscapes.
Take a look at our planning responses
Poorly constructed hill roads and 'tracks' are a growing concern in Scotland's mountains. Many of these are bulldozed through some of our most valued wild land with little regard for build-quality, appearance or effective drainage, causing scars that can be seen for miles around.
We have published a report into the impact mountain wind farms have on the behaviour of mountaineers and hill walkers as part of the evidence base we use when opposing the small number of wind farm planning applications that we believe would cause irreparable damage to Scottish mountain landscapes if allowed to go ahead.
We believe mountains should be protected from man-made intrusion and remain in as wild and natural a state as possible. For this reason, while we sympathise with the grief and loss that bereaved friends and relatives feel, we believe that permanent memorial artefacts should not be a feature of the mountain landscape.
Mountaineering Scotland supports the introduction of new national parks where precedence is given to the Sandford Principle in which the conservation and enhancement of the natural and cultural heritage of an area is given precedence over economic and social development
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ClimbScotland is a registered trademark of the Mountaineering Council of Scotland Limited
Mountaineering Scotland is a registered trademark of the Mountaineering Council of Scotland Limited
