The Angus Glens, like so many rural areas of Scotland, are not asking for special treatment. These communities are asking for something far more reasonable: that policy makers recognise reality.

For too long, debate around Scotland's uplands has been dominated by assumptions and ideology far removed from the landscapes in question. Yet, on the ground in the Angus Glens, a very different picture emerges. It is a picture of people managing land, supporting jobs, sustaining communities and delivering environmental outcomes across one of Scotland's most loved landscapes.

The evidence is now clear. The question is whether policymakers in Edinburgh are prepared to listen. A newly published impact report from Scottish Land & Estates demonstrates the scale of what was delivered across seven estates that collectively manage more than 54,700 hectares – around 60 per cent of the entire Angus Glens landscape – in 2025. These are not single-purpose sporting estates. They are complex rural businesses balancing agriculture, conservation, habitat restoration, forestry, property management and sporting interests across a connected upland landscape. What stands out immediately is the sheer economic significance of these enterprises.

Across the landholdings, moorland management supports 86 full-time equivalent jobs and engages a further 768 seasonal workers. Employment investment exceeds £3.6 million annually. Estates spend almost £3 million every year on contractors, goods and services, and – critically – more than 82 per cent of that expenditure remains within the local economy. Such investment matters enormously in rural Scotland.

In the Angus Glens, the loss of a major employer reverberates through every local contractor, mechanic, fuel supplier, fencing business,........

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