Scotland's Fourth Land Use Strategy: supporting evidence pack

Executive Summary

• Scotland’s main land uses include agriculture, forestry, managing land for nature, housing and urban areas, and renewable energy infrastructure.
• Agriculture is Scotland’s largest land use, with land managed for nature or forestry also occupying substantial areas. In many places these land uses overlap or occur in mixed landscapes; for example, rough grazing areas frequently coincide with peatlands and other semi‑natural habitats.
• Land uses in Scotland are place-specific. Diverse climates, elevation, and soils mean different land uses are viable in different places. Despite physical constraints, most land managers retain a range of land management choices.
• Rough and semi-natural grassland (including bog and heather) is Scotland’s dominant land cover, at almost 50% of land. Woodland covers 19% of Scotland and improved grassland and cropland over 25%. This mix highlights Scotland’s distinctive land character compared to the rest of the UK.
• Of Scotland’s 7.8 million hectares of land, 5.6 million hectares^[1] (72%) is owned or rented agricultural land, with almost a quarter estimated to be tenanted. Publicly owned land in Scotland is ~857,000 hectares (11%), and around ~208,000 hectares (2.7%) is in community ownership.
• Only ~6% of Scotland is prime agricultural land while over half is only suitable for rough grazing. This limits where intensive food production can occur, increasing the strategic importance of protecting high-quality land.
• Scotland is a predominantly rural country with a highly urbanised population; 91% of the population are estimated to live on 2.3% of the land.
• Over 18% of Scotland’s land is protected specifically for nature.
• According to the map underpinning the UK greenhouse gas inventory, Scotland has around 2 million hectares of peat soils, with 70% estimated to be degraded and contributing to carbon emissions.
• Considerable public funding supports land management actions in Scotland, including via agricultural support payments, forestry grants, and wider rural development programmes.