Scotland's Land Use Strategy Annual Progress Report – 2023/2024

Actions Taken Towards Sustainable Land Use Between April 2023 and March 2024

Funding

Supporting Sustainable Agriculture

In 2023/24, awards totalling over £42 million over the lifetime of the activities were issued to over 650 farmers and crofters from the 2022 round of the Agri-Environment Climate Scheme (AECS). These funds will support them to undertake actions to enhance biodiversity on their holding, and to adapt and mitigate the impacts of climate change. This represents part of the Scottish Government’s ongoing investment of £285 million to over 3,000 farmers, crofters, and land managers since the AECS launched in 2015.

2023 also saw the extension of the Agricultural Transformation Fund (ATF) to support slurry storage across Scotland, apart from within Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZs). This fund underpins support for the agricultural sector to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve efficiency and enhance Scotland’s natural environment.

Supports: Enclosed farmland

Forestry

In June 2023 we announced a package of new measures to help the private and public sectors accelerate woodland creation and ensure forestry continues to play its part in tackling and mitigating climate change. As part of this plan, Scottish Forestry is to invest up to £1 million in a comprehensive skills training programme for its front-line staff.

In addition, as part of ongoing support to encourage farmers and crofters to get new trees in the ground, Scottish Forestry more than tripled the grant rate for the manual and mechanical control of bracken. This recognises the difficulties posed by bracken to anyone wishing to establish a new woodland and the rising costs of controlling it.

Other measures in the plan include:

• working closely with industry bodies and groups so that the training on developing and implementing woodland creation projects is expanded
• reviewing and creating more specialised teams to help deal with the more complex stages of the Forestry Grant Scheme that can delay woodland creation projects
• increasing the level of support for smaller scale woodland projects, to help counter recent inflationary pressures
• improving advice and information to farmers to help encourage them to integrate woodlands on their farms
• publishing refreshed guidance on community engagement within the woodland creation application process
• implementing technical improvements and process enhancements to speed up applications
• providing better management information for Scottish Forestry staff and applicants to help speed up applications

We have also provided £4 million of funding to 17 new projects to help improve Scotland’s timber transport infrastructure, decarbonise the forestry sector and take pressure off rural roads used by communities. The projects will create new haulage routes away from busy villages, build passing places on narrow roads, upgrade existing fragile roads, and promote the shipping of timber by sea.

Supports: Enclosed farmland and Semi-natural land

Farming Skills for the Next Generation and Women in Agriculture

Support for women and young people in agriculture is vital to help sustain the next and future generations of farmers. Ensuring that women and girls in agriculture and new entrants are able to develop critical skills to allow them to expand their businesses and careers is necessary in order to help people stay in rural communities and, in turn, help those communities to thrive. In order to support this, funding of over £500,000 was announced to help women, girls and young people develop new skills, further their careers and grow their businesses in agriculture.

The Next Generation and Women in Agriculture Practical Training Funds provided successful applicants with £500 or more to help pay for individuals to access the right practical training courses for their needs, relevant to agriculture and crofting.

Supports: Enclosed farmland and Semi-natural land

Crofting

To ensure the sustainability of our rural and island communities, the Scottish Government approves and provides crofting businesses with over £40 million each year through various support mechanisms including the Croft House Grant, Crofting Agricultural Grant Scheme (CAGS), Cattle Improvement Scheme, Less-Favoured Area Support Scheme, Basic Payment Scheme and Greening, Forestry Grant Scheme and AECS. In 2023, 28 crofters and their families received funding of over £820,000 from the Croft House Grant scheme towards the costs of home improvements and new houses.

2023 also saw the introduction of energy efficiency measures to the scheme allowing crofters to apply for grants of up to £38,000 towards the costs of home improvements, such as loft or wall insulation, new zero direct emissions heating systems or upgraded windows and doors. These measures will help crofters to improve the energy performance of their property and contribute to energy cost savings.

The CAGS provides grants towards the costs of a diverse range of agricultural operations. It is designed to aid and develop agricultural production on croft businesses, thereby supporting the economic basis of crofting and helping to retain people in rural and island communities. The funding also supports collective investments on common grazing land. In 2023, 678 applications were received with a total commitment of over £2.6 million, helping 433 crofters with their businesses.

These schemes allow crofters to maximise the full potential of their crofts, generate economic activity and live and work in our rural and island crofting areas, thereby protecting the crofting system for future generations.

Supports: Enclosed farmland and Semi-natural land

Nature Restoration Fund

Supporting Scotland’s local authorities to invest in nature is fundamental to achieving our national ambitions. Projects that restore and create new green and blue spaces bring people closer to nature and enhance the climate resilience of communities, delivering on our priorities for both nature and climate. Through the Nature Restoration Fund (NRF) in 2023/24, we provided £5 million to local authorities to develop projects that have restored natural habitats, and created new woodlands, hedgerows, wildflower meadows and ponds. We have also provided an additional £5 million to local authorities for the development of Nature Networks as part of our commitment to ensuring every local authority has a thriving Nature Network of connected habitats. By joining together existing natural habitats that are important for wild plants and animals, nature can adapt, across local and regional landscapes, to our changing climate.

Supports: All landscapes

Case Study: Tweed Meadows Project

Merlindale Nature received £180,894 of funds thanks to support from the Scottish Government’s Nature Restoration Fund, South of Scotland Enterprise, and the Fallago Environment Fund. This money allowed the purchase of equipment and wildflower seed, heralding the start of the Tweed Meadows Project. This ambitious Project aims to galvanise action to reverse the catastrophic loss of flower-rich hay meadows in the Scottish Borders, halting the decline of pollinators, tackling habitat loss, and increasing connectivity.

Visitor Management

In 2023 an additional £900,000 was delivered through NatureScot to support local rangers to promote responsible enjoyment and manage some of Scotland’s busiest and most popular areas. This Better Places funding went directly to 24 countryside, coast, and island projects across Scotland, enabling an additional 62 staff to be employed across Scotland. The local rangers help to promote the Scottish Outdoor Access Code (SOAC) and manage visitor pressure in the North and West Highlands, islands, the North Coast 500, the Pentland Hills, Loch Lomond, Cairngorms, East Lothian and North Perthshire. This funding complemented additional investment in rangers and visitor operations made this year by NatureScot, Forestry and Land Scotland, the National Park Authorities and Scottish Water to support the management of busy outdoor places.

Supports: All landscapes

Flood Bank Repair

The risk of flooding remains very real for many areas. To respond to this ongoing threat, in November 2023 we announced £1.8 million of funding to support farmers in local authority areas worst affected by flooding during the Autumn of 2023. Open until January 2024, individual farm businesses were eligible for up £30,000 to help repair man-made flood banks, which are crucial to safeguarding rural communities and land from any future extreme weather events.

This added to the ongoing support for farmers and crofters, through the agricultural support system, to make changes to handle extremes in water availability by improving soil management practices and planting trees as well as through the AECS.

Supports: Rivers and waterbodies, Enclosed farmland and Semi-natural land

Funding for Natural Capital

The Facility for Investment Ready Nature in Scotland continued to support private investment in natural capital. It provided over £1.8 million in 2023/24 to 27 nature projects from the Solway Firth to Shetland, Fife, central Scotland, and the Hebrides. These included the use of private finance to restore river catchments, improve water quality and reduce flood risk while creating community assets such as growing spaces and improved greenspace. Funding was matched by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Supports: All landscapes

Supporting Fruit and Vegetable Growers

We announced the allocation of up to £6 million over the next two years to extend the Fruit and Vegetable Aid scheme. Scottish Borders Produce, East of Scotland Growers and Angus Growers will all receive a share of the multi-year funding, designed to help increase their competitiveness in the supply chain.

Supports: Enclosed farmland

Clyde Mission

The Clyde Mission has been working since 2020 to transform the riverside corridor running from Lanarkshire, through the City of Glasgow, to the sea, with investment support for green space and renewable energy initiatives as well as examining how more land can be identified for development. In August 2023 the First Minister announced the transfer of the Clyde Mission regeneration programme to the Glasgow City Region, as Scottish Government investment reached more than £40 million. This included an additional £1.5 million dedicated to the masterplan project and £25 million of previously announced funding for cutting edge heat decarbonisation projects that is being awarded to the partner local authorities. Migration of the Clyde Mission is a prime example of the Scottish Government’s commitment to empowering and devolving more decision-making to all of Scotland’s regions.

Supports: Settlements, Rivers and water-bodies and Semi-natural land

Growing Local Supply Chains

A new pilot scheme was established in November 2023 to help small producers to become more sustainable. They will be able to access a range of new support through the Small Producers Pilot Fund, which has been allocated over £180,000 and will be used to assist small producers and crofters to establish more localised supply chains and cut food miles. The funding was used to:

• support two small-scale abattoir projects
• establish a new information resource webpage for small producers
• develop a framework to assess small producers data
• procure a service to deliver training courses for small producers

Supports: All landscapes

Funding for Regional Food and Drink Projects

The Regional Food Fund provides grants of up to £5,000 per application to a variety of projects promoting local food. The most recent funding round, completed in January 2024, provided up to £100,000 to 22 collaborative local food and drink projects across the regions of Scotland.

Supports: All landscapes

Marine Fund

The Vision for Sustainable Aquaculture has been supported by Marine Fund Scotland (MFS) grants since 2021. This has helped businesses make significant investments in a range of projects that help coastal and island communities to be sustained and developed. MFS awarded a total of £14 million in 2023/24; £2.6 million of that total went to projects to support the aquaculture industry.

Supports: Marine, Islands, Costal, and Rivers and waterbodies

Trees on Farms

We continued to deliver the Integrating Trees Network supporting farmers and crofters across Scotland to develop their knowledge and understanding of planting and managing trees on their land. This peer-to-peer engagement project, nominated for a Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management award, focuses on the practicalities, benefits and outcomes of integrating trees on farms and delivers free events and engagement materials tailored to farmers’ needs.

As a direct result of work by the ‘Trees on Farms’ subgroup, a stakeholder-led group established for collective discussion around better integration of trees on farms, Scottish Forestry has introduced four new measures to its Forestry Grant Scheme aimed at boosting agroforestry planting in Scotland:

• increasing the grant rate for agroforestry projects by 50% from £3,600 to £5,400 per hectare
• making agroforestry funding available for planting fruit, nut and native trees
• allowing additional protection measures for trees to allow cattle to graze within agroforestry projects
• giving farmers more opportunity to participate in agroforestry by adapting the planting thresholds

Supports: Enclosed farmland and Semi-natural Land

Case Study: Parkhill Farm

Roger Howison at Parkhill Farm, Newburgh, one of the Integrating Tree Network hosts, has integrated apple trees on his farm with an alley cropping system. This has allowed him to produce two crops from the same piece of land and diversified his income with the apples used to produce cider. The farm has seen a significant increase in biodiversity with barn owls now a common sight. Having found success with his alley cropping, Roger is now considering options to further expand the system into other fields on the farm. More information can be found on the Scottish Forestry website.

Legislation and Policy Update

Agriculture and Rural Communities Bill

In September 2023 we introduced the Agriculture and Rural Communities Bill to Parliament in order to reform our approach to supporting farming and food production in Scotland. The Bill will provide Scotland with a future framework that will support farmers and crofters to meet more of our food needs sustainably, to farm and croft with nature, and will assist in efforts to meet our climate change targets.

The powers in the Bill will be used to realise the Scottish Government’s Vision for Agriculture, delivering on our commitment to continue to support agriculture and rural communities. The Vision outlines the goal of transforming how the government will support farming and food production in Scotland to become a global leader in sustainable and regenerative agriculture. The Bill will be the platform for measures focused on the Scottish Government key outcomes: high quality food production; climate mitigation and adaptation; nature restoration; and wider rural development. The Bill provides the opportunity to reform how and what the Scottish Government supports, and enable more support and activity to cut emissions and protect and enhance nature. The Bill passed stage one in Parliament at the end of March 2024 with MSPs voting in favour of the principles behind the legislation.

Supports: All landscapes

Land Reform Bill

The Land Reform (Scotland) Bill was introduced to Parliament in March with the aim of changing how land is owned and managed in our rural and island communities for the better.

In order to achieve this, the Bill includes measures that will apply to large landholdings of over 1,000 hectares, prohibiting sales in certain cases until ministers can consider the impact on the local community. It will help to empower communities by providing more opportunities to own land by introducing advance notice of certain sales from large landholdings. It places legal responsibilities on the owners of the very largest landholdings to show how they use their land and how that use contributes to key public policy priorities, such as addressing climate change and protecting and restoring nature.

The Bill also includes a duty on Scottish Ministers to publish a model Land Management Tenancy which will support people to use and manage land in a way that meets their, and the nation’s, needs.

It includes a number of measures to reform tenant farming and small landholding legislation, providing more opportunities to improve the sustainability and productivity of land. It will ensure that tenants are able to engage in sustainable agriculture and are fairly rewarded for their investment of time and resources by compensation at end of tenancy.

Supports: All landscapes

Deer Management

In June 2023 we made the first legislative changes to implement recommendations from the Deer Management Working Group by changing the law to give land managers more tools to help control Scotland’s rapidly growing deer population. The changes make it easier to reduce unsustainable deer numbers in order to protect our natural environment and support biodiversity recovery.

The refreshed regulations make it easier to use non-lead ammunition to shoot deer. They also allow authorised land managers to cull male deer across a longer period of the year and to use specialist scopes known as ‘night sights’ to cull deer at night.

Building on this, between January and March 2024 we consulted on a range of further proposals to improve the current system of deer management. These include:

• granting NatureScot additional powers to facilitate deer management for the purposes of enhancing the natural environment
• giving land managers easier access to different tools to manage deer
• removing barriers for venison dealers to help expand their markets and get more venison into the food supply chain

Supports: Semi-natural land

Wildlife Management and Muirburn Bill

The Wildlife Management and Muirburn Bill was passed by the Scottish Parliament in March 2024 and will become law to provide increased protection for Scotland’s wildlife.

The legislation includes a range of measures that will help tackle raptor persecution, ban the practice of snaring and ensure that the management of species on grouse moors is done sustainably and with animal welfare as a priority.

Supports: Semi-natural land

Regional Land Use Partnerships

These were established in 2021 with the aim of facilitating collaboration between local and national government, communities, landowners, land managers and wider stakeholders. The pilot regions have been working to enable natural capital-led consideration of how to maximise the contribution that our land can make to addressing the climate and environmental crises.

For example, throughout the summer of 2023, the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park consulted on its draft National Park Partnership Plan 2024-2029 which will serve as its Regional Land Use Framework. This sets out the strategic land use objectives, priorities, and opportunities across the National Park and commits to further exploration of the role which land use partnerships can play in delivering these. In the south of Scotland, South of Scotland Enterprise, Borders and Dumfries & Galloway local authorities, stakeholders and communities all collaborated ahead of the publication of, and consultation on, the draft Regional Land Use Framework which ran from December 2023 to February 2024.

Supports: All landscapes

Food Security

A new dedicated Scottish Government Food Security Unit was established in April 2023. This was a key recommendation of the Short-life Food Security and Supply Taskforce, which was set up together with industry immediately following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The Food Security Unit is taking forward the legacy activity of the taskforce, monitoring food system resilience and engaging widely so that government and industry are able to react as quickly as possible to any future shocks, including those resulting from climate volatility.

Supports: All landscapes

Agricultural Reform Route Map

March 2024 saw the publication of the latest update to the Agricultural Reform Route Map. This provides further details about the actions that farmers and crofters will have to take to receive agricultural support payments from 2025. It helps establish a robust and coherent framework to underpin Scotland's future agriculture support regime, so that it delivers high quality food production, climate mitigation and adaptation, and nature restoration.

Supports: All landscapes

Establishing a Group to Discuss Bracken Control

In March 2024 a new Scottish Bracken Working Group was created to provide a forum for engagement on work related to bracken and its management, and to help form advice to Scottish Ministers on the progress of actions and the developing evidence base.

Supports: Enclosed farmlands

Strategies, Consultations & Plans

Biodiversity Strategy

Between September and December 2023, the Scottish Government ran a consultation to seek views on a range of topics and proposals related to biodiversity and tackling the nature emergency in Scotland, building on the publication of the draft Biodiversity Strategy in 2022.

The consultation covered three parts of the Biodiversity Strategic Framework:

• the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy which sets out our vision to halt and reverse biodiversity loss
• the first five-year Delivery Plan which contains the actions to deliver the vision
• proposals for legislation relating to statutory targets for nature restoration, and modernising National Parks' legislation

Supports: All landscapes

Forestry

October 2023 saw the launch of Forestry and Land Scotland’s (FLS) new Communities Strategy. As Scotland’s largest land manager, communities are at the heart of what FLS does. This new strategy builds on their experiences and established principles of community engagement, including seeking input into the development of FLS’ land management plans, staging events, facilitating community volunteering, developing community renewables schemes, and leasing or selling land through its Community Asset Transfer Scheme. This will help to further empower and enable communities to have a greater role in creating their own future, as we all work towards making best use of Scotland’s national forest and land.

Successful Community Asset Transfers from FLS taking place this year include:

• Nether Lochaber Community Association residents from Inchree to North Ballachulish taking ownership of the Inchree Barn, to renovate and develop it as a new community hub
• local community group, the Heart of Argyll Wildlife Organisation purchasing the Barrandaimh farmhouse, including the beaver centre and land which the group plans to restore to wet meadow status
• Slattadale Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation purchasing land for a sustainable off-campus outdoor education facility.

Other transfers approved this year, due to complete later in 2024, include:

• the Aviemore and Glenmore Community Trust taking over the Glenmore Visitor Centre and Car Park
• Glen Urqhart Rural Community Association purchasing former FLS offices at Balnain, to be used and developed by the Glen Urquhart Men’s Shed
• Stratherrick & Foyers Community Trust acquiring the former Forest School Buildings at Inverfarigaig, identified as a site for a community hub in their Community Action Plan
• Sunart Community Company’s request to purchase 88 hectares of woodland known as Longrigg Wood, Strontian, for a range of uses including timber and firewood production, partnership with the local high school for educational activities, and development of social amenity

FLS is also encouraging communities in the south of Scotland to get involved in developing new plans for the 7stanes mountain bike trail centres. The aim is to transform the sites into more accessible, multi-user destinations for wider interest groups, including more families and disabled visitors. Communities in Newcastleton and Dalbeattie attended workshops in early 2024 to help design plans to increase opportunities for community, commercial and public investment that will both support regional tourism and boost the local economies.

Supports: All landscapes

Publication of the Local Food Strategy

The Scottish Government’s Local Food for Everyone: Our Journey was published in January 2024. It brings together strands of work that support the local food agenda via three pillars:

• connecting people with food
• connecting Scottish producers with buyers
• harnessing public sector procurement

The strategy supports locally based production, circular supply chains, cutting food miles and enabling more people to enjoy food grown locally.

Supports: Enclosed farmland and Settlements.

Land Use and Agriculture Just Transition Plan

Scotland’s first Land Use and Agriculture Just Transition Plan (LAJTP) will focus on the livelihoods, skills, health, and wellbeing of those who live in and rely on Scotland’s land and agricultural sector, as well as focusing on maintaining and supporting thriving rural and island communities. Its aim will be to introduce and promote our baseline approach and policy actions whilst setting out the strategic direction of travel for future plans.

We are committed to the co-development of this plan and, as such, in June 2023 we published the Just transition in land use and agriculture: discussion paper. This paper was designed to encourage and support a summer of discussions on the development of a Land Use and Agriculture Just Transition plan through four key themes: Jobs, Skills, and the Economy; Community and Place; People and Equity; and the Environment and Adaptation.

This was then complemented by a series of in-person and online workshops which took place across the country, including 11 community-based workshops in rural areas. Throughout this engagement, people were asked a series of open questions to enable consideration of the wider opportunities and barriers that exist within their daily lives. The themes and insights discussed indicate some of the most pressing issues for the people of rural Scotland at this time and, as such, they will be used to inform the development of the draft plan.

Supports: All landscapes

Good Food Nation

The consultation draft of the first national Good Food Nation Plan was published in January 2024. It sets out the main outcomes to be achieved in relation to food-related issues, the policies needed to do this and the measures we will use to assess progress.

There is also a duty on local authorities and health boards, to set out their own Good Food Nation plans. These will be developed once the national Plan has been finalised and published.

Supports: All landscapes

Ending the Sale of Horticultural Peat

In December we published analysis of responses to our consultation on ending the sale of peat, which ran from February to May 2023.

Currently, around 1,000 hectares of Scotland's peatlands are being used to produce peat for horticulture. In 2022, Scotland supplied almost 170,000 cubic metres of peat used in UK horticulture or exported. This represents 18% of the total with 23% originating elsewhere in the UK and almost 60% coming from outside the UK.

The consultation sought to develop a deeper understanding of how ending the sale of peat might affect industry, particularly professional horticulture, and the wider context of peat extraction, for example for fuel or whisky production.

Supports: Semi-natural land

Case Study: Peatland Restoration at Bankhead Moss

Bankhead Moss, a lowland raised bog in Fife, suffered badly from peat cutting in the past, leaving the site’s raised dome literally high and dry. Two phases of intense restoration work were needed to help the process of recovery and rewetting on this much-damaged peatland.

Following this project, while there are still some water table issues in parts of Bankhead Moss, peatland restoration work here has enabled the Trust to take a great step forward in managing the site as a lowland raised bog. Without this, and the 2016 Peatland ACTION funded project, management of Bankhead Moss as a raised bog would have been impossible.

Delivering More Homes in Rural and Island areas

A new Rural and Islands Housing Action Plan was launched in October 2023 to support the commitment to deliver 110,000 affordable homes by 2032, with 10% in rural and island areas.

The plan sets out a range of actions to support Housing to 2040, the Scottish Government’s long-term national housing strategy, to ensure people have good, safe, secure and warm homes. Specifically, it supports the commitment to take ‘action so that rural and island communities have access to high quality affordable and market housing, which is planned alongside the infrastructure that helps people live, work and thrive and help stem rural depopulation.’

Supports: Settlements and Islands.

Vision for Sustainable Aquaculture

A new strategy was launched in July 2023, setting out actions to increase the productivity of Scotland’s aquaculture sector and help reduce its impact on the environment.

The Vision for Sustainable Aquaculture includes measures that will:

• support the sustainable economic development of the sector
• safeguard the natural environment
• support innovation across the sector
• ensure local communities receive lasting benefits from aquaculture
• promote new infrastructure and supply chain developments.

The Vision will be delivered by the Scottish Government in cooperation with businesses and other stakeholders. It will also seek to harness the potential Scotland has as a coastal nation to develop its Blue Economy and create more sustainable economic and social benefit from finfish, shellfish, and seaweed farming in the future.

Supports: Coastal, Islands, and Rivers and waterbodies.

Tackling Litter and Flytipping

In June 2023 we set out the action we would take to tackle litter and flytipping in the six-year National Litter and Flytipping Strategy, which was published alongside an action plan for year one. The strategy sets out how national and local government, business, third sector, communities and individuals can work together to drive behaviour change, improve infrastructure, and strengthen enforcement.

The action plan includes specific actions and interventions that the Scottish Government and its delivery partners would focus on delivering in year one with plans to publish an update.

Key actions in Year One have included:

• The Fixed Penalty Notice for flytipping was increased to £500 from 1 January 2024
• The Circular Economy Bill was introduced to the Scottish Parliament and includes a new civil penalty for littering from a vehicle
• Keep Scotland Beautiful has developed a new national online litter hub to provide information, advice and support to community groups and other relevant local organisations on tackling litter and littering behaviour
• The Scottish Government has funded a SEPA pilot to tackle online waste criminals. The pilot is supporting the development of new ways to detect, disrupt and remove illegal operators advertising on social media and taking further enforcement action when necessary.

Supports: All landscapes