Supporting Scotland's Transition - Land Use and Agriculture: Technical Supporting Document

1.1 Land use in Scotland

How we use and manage our land will be vital if we are to achieve our national net zero and nature targets. In order to clearly understand this challenge, we seek to first set out a basic overview of the current proportions of land uses in Scotland, highlighting in particular agriculture, forestry, and peatland.

Scotland is approximately 8 million hectares in size; once you exclude bodies of water this reduces the land area to approximately 7.8 million hectares.^[1] Rural areas constitute 98% of Scotland’s landmass and 17% of its population.^[2] Scotland has a total of 790 islands of which 93 are currently inhabited.^[3]

Agriculture

The largest single land use in Scotland is agriculture at 5.16 million ha, or approximately 66% of the total land area.^[4] However, 52% of this agricultural land is rough grazing. Indeed, only around 70% of the agricultural area is claimed under the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) and Greening support mechanisms, amounting to approximately 3.74 million ha of land.^[5]

As a simplified overview, there are four over-arching categories of agriculture land use:

• Arable agriculture – land that is capable of being used to produce a wide range of crops;
• Improved grassland – land limited to grass production due to circumstances such as slope;
• Mixed agriculture – land able to produce a moderate range of crops including cereals (primarily barley), forage crops and grass; and
• Rough grazing – land with very severe limitations that prevent improvement by mechanical means.

Around 11% of Scottish agricultural land is used to grow cereals, fruit and vegetables. Barley and wheat are the main cereal crops grown in Scotland, accounting for around 85% of the area used to grow cereals and oilseeds^[6] and much of it goes into the production of malting wheat and barley. In fact, 87% of barley and 50% of wheat requirements of Scotland’s whisky production are sourced in Scotland.^[7]

Areas with limited growing conditions are currently designated as Less Favourable Areas (LFAs) in recognition of:

• the presence of land of poor productivity, which is difficult to cultivate and with a limited potential which cannot be increased except at excessive cost, and which is mainly suitable for extensive livestock farming;
• lower than average production, compared to the main indices of economic performance in agriculture; and
• a low or dwindling population predominantly dependent on agricultural activity, the accelerated decline of which could cause rural depopulation.

It should be noted that the LFAs will typically be found on the elevated areas of the hills and uplands of Scotland.^[8]

Forestry

Scotland’s forest and woodland area now covers more than 1.5 million hectares. Around one third of this is owned by the state as part of the National Forest Estate, and over 1,000,000 hectares is owned by the private sector.^[9] These forests consist of different woodland types and tree species, ranging from the highly productive forests of the Galloway and Tay Forest Parks to traditional mixed Highland estates, and from urban forests in and around our cities to the Atlantic oakwoods in Argyll and the native Caledonian pinewoods in the Highlands.^[10]

Peatland

Scotland is one of the richest countries in Europe for peat and has around 2 million hectares of it. There are four main natural peatland habitat types^[11] in Scotland:

• Blanket bog covers some 1.8 million hectares, 23% of our land area, and supports some of our rarest and most threatened wildlife, including internationally important breeding bird populations. Peat depth varies, with an average between 0.5 and 3 metres deep, but depths of up to 8 metres are not uncommon. Scotland holds a significant proportion of the European and world resource, holding around 1.6 billion tonnes of carbon.
• Raised bogs are found mainly in the lowlands, appearing in their natural state as domes growing to 10 m or more in height. Vast areas have been lost to agricultural, horticultural and forestry practices.
• Fens range from tiny fragments to extensive mosaics of wetland habitats at a landscape scale. Their use within social and agricultural systems has declined with the advent of intensive agriculture, drainage and mechanisation.
• Bog woodland is one of Scotland’s rarest habitats and as the underlying vegetation makes them hard to access they are often un-managed and probably represent some of our most “natural” native woods.

Healthy peatlands provide many benefits to us all but not all of our peatlands are in good health. It is estimated that 80% of Scotland's peatlands are damaged.^[12]

Marine – the connection

The marine environment also has a role to play within a just transition for land use and agriculture, along the coastal areas and on inland water bodies. Scotland’s seas are rich, providing essential natural capital, ecosystems services delivering socio-economic benefits, and jobs, income and prosperity for communities around Scotland. The opportunities created as a result encourage population growth, incentivise young people and families to stay and build lives, and play a key role in ensuring vibrant and flourishing coastal and island communities and thriving ports and harbours.^[13]

Scotland has a coastline of approximately 18,000 km^[14] and more than 30,000 freshwater lochs.^[15] Our seas are nearly six times larger than the land area of Scotland and make up almost two-thirds of the area of sea controlled by the UK. Scotland’s marine sector is a key contributor to Scotland’s success, generating £5 billion in gross value added in 2019 and accounting for 3.4% of the overall Scottish economy.^[16] In 2022, for example, Scotland had 62% of the value and 67% of the weight of all seafood landed by UK fishing vessels, and Scottish-farmed Atlantic salmon was the UK’s biggest single food export. In addition to these established industries, Scotland also has emerging and growing sectors, including marine tourism and seaweed, which are of increasing importance in creating jobs in many coastal and island communities.