ABSTRACT
Any search for the wildest land in Britain would begin in Scotland. There are several areas of land in excess of 1000 km2 in the Western Highlands and the Flow Country with little obvious imprint of man. The Cairngorm Mountains contain some of the largest near-natural forest remnants and montane plateau areas, and this area, together with the Western Highland areas of Ben Eighe and Inverpolly, contain the largest nature reserves in Britain. However, even these apparently natural areas share with Snowdonia a history of systematic denudation. 1 The wildest country is now virtually treeless, and although deer are abundant, several key herbivores are missing, as are all the large carnivores.
