Scotland's fourth land use strategy: consultation

Section 3: Role of the Strategy

This section seeks your feedback on the role of the LUS in supporting the development of integrated landscapes, reflected in a new approach to setting the LUS’s vision and objectives, and identifying actions which will further enable integration.

The LUS is a document that sets out our strategic direction and vision for sustainable land use in Scotland, and the objectives, policies and actions that will help deliver it. The Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 requires Scottish Ministers, by law, to produce a Land Use Strategy every five years. The first Strategy was published in 2011, the second in 2016, the third in 2021 and the fourth will be published by the end of March 2026.

The LUS is a statutory document, though there is no legal obligation for its direct application. Since its inception, the LUS has been embedded in various land use policies, including planning policy. It has also helped to bring forward the Land Rights and Responsibility Statement and Regional Land Use Partnerships (RLUPs).

Over time the policy landscape across land use and related areas has become busier with new strategies and plans. Each of which are typically produced to different timescales for example Scotland’s:

• Climate Change Plan
• Biodiversity Strategy and Delivery Plan
• Forestry Strategy
• National Climate Adaptation Plan
• National Planning Framework 4
• Ambition 2030 – a growth strategy for farming, fishing, food, and drink
• National Peatland Plan
• Pollinator Strategy
• National Marine Plan

Meaning that wider land use is a rapidly evolving policy area, and the LUS needs to reflect this changing context and remain valid over its five-year timeframe.

To inform this next phase, we have undertaken a systems thinking exercise and drawn on recent research by the James Hutton Institute, which offers valuable insights into the coherence of land use policies. Key findings include:

• strong foundations: there is a high degree of cross-referencing among policies covering a wide range of land use topics, indicating a solid basis for policy coherence
• limited systemic integration: despite these connections, there is limited evidence that policies are driving transformational change through a systemic approach to multiple land use goals
• shared responsibilities: some policies are jointly owned or enforced by different directorates, creating the conditions for coherence across departments
• delivery gaps: while the scope and ambition of land use policies are expanding, there is little clarity on how coherence will be operationalised or measured in practice
• opportunities for improvement: addressing policy gaps, recognising trade-offs, and monitoring real-world impacts are key opportunities to strengthen coherence in both policy design and implementation

Proposed New Role

Early engagement with the stakeholders within our advisory group has helped clarify that the primary audience for LUS4 should be policymakers and regulators, particularly those whose decisions directly or indirectly affect land use and land management practices.

In order to do this, we propose that the role of LUS4 is:

• to influence policy makers and regulators in order to create an enabling environment that incentivises and/or supports land managers, communities and partnerships to further integrate land use/management

To be clear, LUS 4 and any associated workstreams do not aim to prescribe how individuals manage specific parcels of land. Rather, the goal is to build a comprehensive understanding of the national land use picture - its opportunities, barriers, and the broader policy and support systems that influence individual decisions.

We remain committed to making the strategy accessible to a broad audience, and LUS3 marked a significant step forward in communicating the integrated nature of land use more widely. However, the strategic focus must now evolve, shifting toward how integration can be supported and delivered in practice.

A key role of the strategy would be to recognise and strengthen the connections between land use policy and other policy areas, ensuring alignment with wider plans, strategies, and national targets. This alignment is essential for enabling land use to make a meaningful and effective contribution to Scotland’s broader ambitions. An example of this is the proposed approach to designing the LUS 4’s vision and objectives.

A Two-Phased Approach to delivery, setting the strategic direction and supporting this through future workstreams

We propose to adopt a two-stage approach to delivering the fourth Land Use Strategy:

• stage one - this consultation will inform the development of an overarching strategic document (LUS4), which will be laid before the Scottish Parliament by March 2026
• stage two - following this, a more detailed portfolio of actions will be developed which focuses on those specific actions which enable more integrated, resilient and sustainable land use. This consultation will help us to identify the scope of these workstreams.

Q15. Do you agree that the role of LUS4 should be to influence policy makers and regulators in order to create an enabling environment that incentivises and/or supports land managers, communities and partnerships to further integrate land use/management ?

Yes

No

Q16. Are there other ways in which LUS4 could support alignment and integration?

A changing context needs a changing vision

We recognise that land use will need to make a significant contribution if we are to meet our climate and environmental goals and secure positive outcomes for both people and nature. Achieving this scale of transition requires a clear and compelling vision - one that can guide our decisions and actions as we move forward.

During the consultation on LUS3, stakeholders highlighted the need for the vision and objectives to evolve in response to changing circumstances. However, at that time, there was no clear consensus on how they should be revised, and as a result, the original vision and objectives were retained.

Current Vision and objectives:

“A Scotland where we fully recognise, understand and value the importance of our land resources, and where our plans and decisions about land use will deliver improved and enduring benefits, enhancing the wellbeing of our nation.”

Objectives

• Land based businesses working with nature to contribute more to Scotland's prosperity
• Responsible stewardship of Scotland's natural resources delivering more benefits to Scotland's people
• Urban and rural communities better connected to the land, with more people enjoying the land and positively influencing land use

Proposed approach for LUS4

We propose the following vision statement for LUS4, which will be supported by a thematic objective structure. This structure is designed to integrate relevant objectives from other national strategies and plans, ensuring alignment and coherence across policy areas.

Proposed High-Level Vision

“Scotland’s national landscape is integrated and resilient,—supporting the diverse needs of a net zero, nature-positive, wellbeing economy.”

This vision reflects the ambition to manage land in a way that balances environmental, economic, and social priorities, while recognising the interconnectedness of land use decisions.

Proposed Thematic Structure of LUS4 objectives

To identify the objectives which will support the delivery of this vision, we have considered:

• an analysis of key themes of the relevant objectives from other national strategies and plans
• work looking at factors within the wider land use system to test whether there are any additional objectives required to reflect the integration of actions

We propose organising the LUS4 objectives around the following three themes:

Theme 1: Nature and Climate – covering areas such as biodiversity, ecosystem restoration, climate mitigation and adaptation

Theme 2: Jobs, Skills, and the Economy – covering areas such as sustainable economic development, green jobs, land-based industries, and innovation

Theme 3: Communities, Place, People, and Equity – covering areas such as inclusive access to land, community empowerment, wellbeing, and social justice

This thematic approach will help to better articulate the connections across land use, enabling LUS4 to provide a strategic overview of government actions that influence land. It also allows for a clearer expression of the collective scale of ambition across sectors, making it easier to identify shared opportunities, address barriers and amplify synergies between sector-specific objectives.

Example themes and objectives

Theme 1 – Nature and Climate

• natural capital / nature-based solutions projects not only help meet climate change and biodiversity targets but deliver value and opportunities for local communities - Land Use and Agriculture Just Transition Plan consultation
• sustainable places, where we reduce emissions, restore and better connect biodiversity - National Planning Framework 4
• increasing the adaptability and resilience of forests and woodlands – Forestry Strategy
• ecosystems will be diverse, healthy, resilient and deliver a wide range of ecosystem services - Biodiversity Strategy

Theme 2 - Jobs, Skills and the Economy

• provide a platform for the sustainable production of high-quality food – Climate Change Plan
• increase the contribution of forests and woodlands to Scotland’s sustainable and inclusive economic growth - Forestry Strategy
• the land use and agriculture sectors are diverse and are flourishing. They enable more local employment opportunities for all to enter land-based sectors - Land Use and Agriculture Just Transition Plan consultation
• identify and develop the skills needed for regenerative and sustainable farming, changes of land use and adaptation to the changing climate – Vision for Agriculture, Land Based Learning Review and Implementation Plan

Theme 3 - Communities, Place, People and Equity

• communities are revitalised through the growth of the green economy, including in food production, nature-based solutions and increased sustainable tourism - Land Use and Agriculture Just Transition Plan consultation
• increase the use of Scotland’s forest and woodland resources to enable more people to improve their health, well-being, and life chances – Forestry Strategy
• enable more local employment on the land, more women to enter farming and more new and young entrants into farming - Vision for Agriculture
• the transition to net zero supports efforts to reduce rural poverty and inequality, including inequalities associated within land ownership and governance - Land use and Agriculture Just Transition Plan consultation

Q17. Do you agree with the proposed approach to developing a new vision and integrated set of objectives for the Land Use Strategy?

Yes

No

Land Use Principles

The first LUS set out principles for sustainable land use. Since then a number of related principles have emerged. These include the Scottish Land Rights and Responsibilities Statement, the Vision for Agriculture principles, the Natural Capital Market Framework principles, and the National Planning Framework 4.

Early discussions with stakeholders have highlighted that, given the scale of change across the land-related policy landscape, the current LUS principles may no longer provide the clarity, value, or direction they were originally intended to offer.

LUS4 presents an opportunity to revisit these principles. We are seeking your views on whether to:

• remove the land use principles from LUS, or
• introduce a refreshed set of principles that focus specifically on how the vision for integrated land can be embedded into future policies.

Current principles

• Opportunities for land use to deliver multiple benefits should be encouraged.
• Regulation should continue to protect essential public interests whilst placing as light a burden on businesses as is consistent with achieving its purpose.
• Incentives should be efficient and cost-effective.
• Where land is highly suitable for a primary use (for example food production, flood management, water catchment management and carbon storage) this value should be recognised in decision-making.
• Land use decisions should be informed by an understanding of the functioning of the ecosystems which they affect in order to maintain the benefits of the ecosystem services which they provide.
• Landscape change should be managed positively and sympathetically, considering the implications of change at a scale appropriate to the landscape in question, given that all Scotland's landscapes are important to our sense of identity and to our individual and social wellbeing.
• Land-use decisions should be informed by an understanding of the opportunities and threats brought about by the changing climate. Greenhouse gas emissions associated with land use should be reduced and land should continue to contribute to delivering climate change adaptation and mitigation objectives.
• Where land has ceased to fulfil a useful function because it is derelict or vacant, this represents a significant loss of economic potential and amenity for the community concerned. It should be a priority to examine options for restoring all such land to economically, socially, or environmentally productive uses.
• Outdoor recreation opportunities and public access to land should be encouraged, along with the provision of accessible green space close to where people live, given their importance for health and well-being.
• People should have opportunities to contribute to debates and decisions about land use and management decisions which affect their lives and their future.
• Opportunities to broaden our understanding of the links between land use and daily living should be encouraged.

Q18. Which approach would you prefer for LUS4?

• Removal of the land use principles
• Establishment of a refreshed set of principles (if this is your preference, please tell us what you think they should cover and how you envision their application)

Section 4: Monitoring and Evaluating Integrated, Resilient, and Sustainable Land Use

This section seeks your feedback on the identification of indicators which monitor progress towards more integrated landscapes.

Integrated, resilient, and sustainable land use is a multifaceted concept, encompassing social, economic, and environmental dimensions. To understand progress toward our long-term objectives, it is essential to monitor and evaluate the cumulative impacts and benefits of land use decisions and interventions. However, this is not without challenges, including:

• inconsistent availability and quality of data across indicators and outcomes
• difficulty attributing changes directly to specific policy interventions
• complexity in defining scope, given the broad and interconnected nature of the concept

The first step in developing a robust monitoring and evaluation framework is to define a core set of indicators that can track progress toward the strategy’s objectives. These indicators will help us assess how well we are moving toward our long-term vision and objectives.

We recognise the challenge of identifying suitable indicators before the final objectives are confirmed. However, in a similar approach to the draft Vision and Objectives, we have sought to identify the indicators which:

• are used to measure the relevant objectives from other national strategies and plans, ensuring alignment and coherence across policy areas
• articulate the sum of these actions

Illustrative examples under each objective themes are presented in the tables below. These are intended to stimulate discussion and gather your views on how best to monitor and evaluate progress.

Please note: these indicators are suggestions only. We welcome your feedback on:

• how they could be improved
• where additional or alternative indicators may be needed
• any gaps or limitations you see in the current approach

Objective theme 1 – Nature and climate

Woodland creation

Hectares of all woodland in Scotland created each year (includes new native woodland created)

Baseline: 7,800 hectares (average annual woodland creation between 2016-2020) (Data Source: Woodland Statistics (Forest Research))

30 by 30

Hectares of all 30 by 30 sites per year

Baseline: 18.2 (NatureScot PA and OECM database)

Air pollutants from agriculture

Emissions of the 5 main air pollutants that are relevant to/and from Agriculture

Baseline: Ammonia: 29.33 kt, Nitrogen oxides: 5.53 kt, NMVOC: 15.53 kt, PM10: 1.78 kt, PM25: 0.36 kt (2021 data) (National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory)

Peatland restoration

Hectares of restored peatland in Scotland per year

Baseline: 14,860 ha (2024/25). Note that c.90,000 has been restored since 1990, against a 2030 target of 250,000 ha (NatureScot Peatland Action)

Food waste

Tonnes of food wasted in Scotland per annum

Baseline: 1.037m tonnes (2021). Note this is against a 2025 target to reduce food waste by 33% from a 2013 baseline of 1m tonnes (Currently a standalone statistic from the Scottish Government Food Waste Reduction Plan Review)

Agriculture greenhouse gas emissions

Scottish greenhouse gas emissions for the Agriculture Territorial Emissions Statistics Sector

Baseline: 7.7 MtCO2e (2022) (Scottish Government Greenhouse Gas Emissions Statistics)

Terrestrial species’ abundance

The indicator summarises trends from a large number of species across many taxa collectively found in most if not all of Scotland’s habitats and regions

Baseline: From 1994 to 2016, the average abundance of 371 species of bird, mammals, butterflies, and moths declined by 31% (Naturescot - Marine and Terrestrial Species Indicators: Experimental Statistic)

Q19. To what extent do you agree that the draft indicators provide a strong basis for measuring progress toward improved outcomes under the Nature and Climate theme?

Strongly Agree

Agree

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

Unsure

If you selected "Disagree" or "Unsure", please tell us why

Q20. Are you aware of other data sources that could be used to monitor progress towards these outcomes?

Yes

No

If yes, please highlight them

Objective Theme 2 – Jobs, Skills, and the Economy

Total employment

Total employment in Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing (Section A) in Scotland

Baseline: 90,000 (2022) (Business Register and Employment Survey (ONS))

Farming gender balance and age profile

The percentage of working occupiers on agricultural holdings in Scotland by gender and age group

Baseline: Male 65%, female 35% (2023); aged 45 or over 85%, aged under 45 15% (2023) (Scottish Agricultural Census)

Sustainable tourism economy

Total business base, employment, turnover and GVA in Sustainable Tourism in Scotland

Baseline:  15,830 businesses (2023); 229,000 in employment (2022); £9,357m turnover (2022); £4,803m GVA (2022) (Scottish Government Industry Statistics)

Agriculture economy

Total business base, employment, turnover and GVA in Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing (Section A) in Scotland

Baseline: 17,245 businesses (2023); 90,000 in employment (2022); £2,270m turnover (2022); and £862m GVA (2022)

Agriculture in-work training

Proportion of people in employment (16-64) who participated in job-related training in last 3 months for Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing in Scotland

Baseline: 11.7% (2022) (Annual Population Survey (ONS))

Rural employment

Total employment (across all sectors) in rural Scotland, using the RESAS Classification of Local Authorities

Baseline: 729,000 (2022) (Business Register and Employment Survey)

Crofting gender balance and age profile

The percentage of crofters in Scotland by gender and age group

Baseline: Male 68%, female 30%, prefer not to say 2% (2022); aged 65 or over 42%, aged under 65 58% (2022) (Economic Condition of Crofting)

The value of natural capital

Total annual value of natural capital ecosystem services (e.g. recreation and tourism, health benefits, agricultural biomass, renewables etc) but excluding oil and gas provisioning

Baseline: £3,174m (2021) (Scotland's Natural Capital Accounts)

Value of agriculture jobs

Gross Value Added per head of employment in Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing (Section A) in Scotland

Baseline: £51,208 (2022) (Annual Business Survey)

Support for crofters

Percentage of crofters who have received an income from grants or support schemes in the last 12 months

Baseline: 43% (2022) (Economic Condition of Crofting)

Support to transition rural jobs

Percentage of workers in rural and remote Scotland who have all/some of the training and support required to transition their job

Baseline: 60% said they had access to training and support, though 35% said they would require more to make the changes needed (Scottish Climate Survey)

Diversification of farm activity

Percentage of farms in Scotland that have at least one diversified activity (i.e. a non-agricultural activity that uses farm resources e.g. renting out farm buildings, micro electricity generation, wind turbines)

Baseline: 59% (2022/23) (Scottish Farm Business Income)

Q21. To what extent do you agree that the draft indicators provide a strong basis for measuring progress toward improved outcomes under the Jobs, Skills and Economy theme?

Strongly Agree

Agree

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

Unsure

If you selected "Disagree" or "Unsure", please tell us why.

Q22. Are you aware of other data sources that could be used to monitor progress towards these outcomes?

Yes

No

If yes, please highlight them.

Objective 3 – Communities, Place, People and Equity

Satisfaction with public services

Percentage of adults satisfied with the quality of public services delivered (local health services, local schools, public transpor)t

Baseline: Remote small towns (55%), accessible rural (45%), remote rural (48%) (2021)

Assets in community ownership

Number of assets in community ownership in rural Scotland

Baseline: Remote small towns (25), accessible rural (143), remote rural (456) (2022)
(Community Ownership in Scotland (Scottish Government))

Community participation

Either percentage of people in Scotland who would like to be involved in making decisions about how public spaces are used in their local area, or percentage of people in Scotland who have been involved in decision making about how public spaces are used in their local area in the past 12 months

Baseline: 46% would like to be involved or would like a say about how public spaces are used in their local area; 22% had been involved in decisions about public spaces in their local area in the past 12 months (Scottish Climate Survey)

Land in community ownership

Area of land in community ownership in rural Scotland

Baseline: Remote small towns (826 Ha), accessible rural (2,806 Ha),
remote rural (208,515 Ha) (2022)

Rural poverty

Percentage of people in rural Scotland who are in relative poverty (below 60% of UK median income after housing costs)

Baseline: 18% (2019-2022) (Family Resources Survey)

Improved health and wellbeing

Percentage of people in Scotland who have improved their a) physical health, and b) mental health as a result of spending time in local green or blue spaces

Baseline: 86% said that spending time in local green or blue spaces had benefits for their mental and physical health (Scottish Climate Survey)

Rural child poverty

Percentage of children in rural Scotland who are in relative poverty

Baseline: 18% (2019-2022) (Family Resources Survey)

Fruit and vegetable consumption

The proportion of adults (16+) and children (2-15) in Scotland eating five or more portions of fruit and vegetables a day

Baseline: Adults = 22% (2021), Children = 21% (2022) (Scottish Health Survey)

Food insecurity

The proportion of adults in Scotland who were, at some time in the previous 12 months, worried that they would run out of food because of a lack of money or other resources

Baseline: 9% (2021) (Scottish Health Survey)

Q23. To what extent do you agree that the draft indicators provide a strong basis for measuring progress toward improved outcomes under the Community, Places, People and Equity theme?

Strongly Agree

Agree

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

Unsure

If you selected "Disagree" or "Unsure", please tell us why.

Q24. Are you aware of other data sources that could be used to monitor progress towards these outcomes?

Yes

No

If yes, please highlight them.