Scotland's Earth Heritage and Landscape

Landscape

The diversity of landscape character within the relatively small land area of Scotland reflects the underlying diversity of its rocks and structures, the active surface processes, its maritime position on the edge of the continental mass, and the effect of human activity.

The changing weather and tidal conditions of the North Atlantic seaboard provide variation in air, water and light qualities which contribute to the aesthetic dimension of Scottish Landscapes.

SNH has recently completed a study developing a series of Landscape Character Assessment reports for Scotland. These reports provide more detailed information on aspects of the Scottish landscape and are available from our publications section.