Lying at the edge of the Cairngorms in north east Scotland, the majority of the Glenlivet Estate falls within the Cairngorms National Park. Enclosed on all sides by high moors and hills, and with limited access to the outside world, Glenlivet has long been a refuge for wildlife.

Its diverse landscape varies from low lying woodlands and rivers through pine forests and wetlands to upland moors. Much of Glenlivet lies over schists and limestones, which break down into more fertile soil than the granites found elsewhere in the Cairngorms.

Glenlivet thus supports a richer variety of plants as well as larger stocks of wild birds and mammals than many other parts of the Cairngorms National Park.

Over one hundred species of bird can be seen in Glenlivet. The combination of rivers, woodland and open ground, creates conditions suitable for many typical upland birds and animals, some of which (particularly birds of prey) are relatively rare.