This article appears as part of the Winds of Change newsletter.

Large landowners should be forced to set out plans for nature recovery as part of Scotland’s Land Reform Bill, says the Scottish Green party.

Today sees debate on Scotland’s latest Land Reform bill in the Scottish parliament, and with 400 amendments tabled it is likely to be a long slog.

The Scottish Greens' amendment around large landowners is just one of these amendments to a bill that is part of an ongoing programme of land reform and taps into deep feelings about unfairness in a country that is still, on land ownership, one of the most unequal in Europe – with half of Scotland’s land owned by less than 1% of people.

According to Andy Wightman's, Who Owns Scotland 2024, 83% of rural Scotland is privately owned. "Private rural landownership," he wrote, "has become more concentrated over the past 12 years with 433 landowners owning 50% of the privately-owned rural land in 2024 compared to 440 in 2012."

Ariane Burgess, the Scottish Green MSP behind the amendment, said; “Our country should belong to all of us. We need to ensure that the large landowners are using their land in ways that benefit our nature and our environment, while giving local communities a say in how this is taken forward.

“Too many of the biggest land hoarders have shown that they can’t be trusted to do it of their own accord, so it is time for legislation that makes them do it.

Burgess will bring a vote on the proposals to compel large landowners to set out plans for nature recovery in consultation with local communities. The amendment would require large landowners to set out robust plans for how they will manage their land to promote nature’s recovery.

The Scottish Greens have also tabled an amendment that would give ministers the power to block any land sale if the prospective buyer already owns more........

© Herald Scotland