Balmoral Estate is within the Cairngorms National Park and is partly within the Deeside and Lochnagar National Scenic Area.[34] The 50,000-acre (20,000-hectare) estate contains a wide variety of landscapes, from the Dee river valley to open mountains. There are seven Munros (hills in Scotland over 3,000 ft or 914.4 m) within the estate, the highest being Lochnagar at 3,789 ft (1,155 m). This mountain was the setting for a children's story, The Old Man of Lochnagar, told originally by Prince Charles to his younger brothers, Andrew and Edward. The story was published in 1980, with royalties accruing to The Prince's Trust.[11]: 35–51 [35] The estate also incorporates the 7,500-acre (3,000-hectare) Delnadamph Lodge estate, bought by Elizabeth II in 1978.[36]
The estate extends to Loch Muick in the southeast where an old boat house and the Royal Bothy (hunting lodge) now named Glas-allt-Shiel, built by Victoria, are located.
The working estate includes grouse moors, forestry, and farmland, as well as managed herds of deer, Highland cattle, and ponies.[11]: 38–47 It also offers access to the public for fishing (paid) and hiking during certain seasons.[11]: 36–37
Approximately 8,000 acres (3,200 hectares) of the estate are covered by trees, with almost 3,000 acres (1,200 hectares) used for forestry that yields nearly 10,000 tonnes of wood per year. Ballochbuie Forest, one of the largest remaining areas of old Caledonian pine growth in Scotland, consists of approximately 3,000 acres (1,200 hectares). It is managed with only minimal or no intervention.[11]: 48, 51 The principal mammal on the estate is the red deer with a population of 2,000 to 2,500 head.[11]: 44
The areas of Lochnagar and Ballochbuie were designated in 1998 by the Secretary of State for Scotland as Special Protection Areas (SPA) under the European Union (EU) Birds Directive.[37][38] Bird species inhabiting the moorlands include red grouse, black grouse, ptarmigan, and the capercaillie.[11]: 38 Ballochbuie also is protected as a Special Area of Conservation by the EU Habitats Directive, as "one of the largest remaining continuous areas of native Caledonian Forest".[39] In addition, there are four sites of special scientific interest on the estate.[34]
The royal family employs approximately 50 full-time and 50–100 part-time staff to maintain the working estate.
From Wikipedia