A new report showing the “vibrant and progressive” contribution of rural estates should change how landowners are viewed in Scotland.
That's according to new research from Scottish Land & Estates (SLE), which is claims dismisses the “outdated image of ‘lairds’ that so often mars the debate around land use and ownership”.
The report shows that estates provide homes for 13,000 families and land for 14,000 rural enterprises, adding that they attract an estimated 5.4 million Scottish residents annually - and are estimated to support about one in 10 of all rural jobs.
Estates account for 58% of Scotland’s renewable energy generating capacity and about 17% of Scotland’s natural capital asset base from agriculture, forestry and renewable energy operations.
The total value of the assets underpinning this contribution was estimated to amount to £35.1bn.
SLE insisted the report shows rural estates contribute to at least seven of the Scottish Government’s 11 “national outcomes” towards achieving a “wellbeing economy”.
Chairman Mark Tennant stated: “Many of the estates involved in the research are able to achieve what they do - such as peatland restoration, clean energy or innovative food production - because they operate at a large scale.
“Scale is important for delivery of ambitious Scottish Government targets and priorities regardless of who owns the land.”
Figures also showed 79% of land use in rural estates by 2022 was for conservation, an increase from 32% in 2014, while 70% was for renewables, up from 32% in the same timeframe.
Tennant added: “The government is looking to move ahead with further land reform and we are already seeing signs of a debate harking back to the past with little relevance to modern-day realities.
“We want to see any land reform debate based on the realities of modern-day ownership and management.
“Rural estates are vibrant and progressive in their approach and see themselves as key to Scotland’s sustainable future.”
But Ailsa Raeburn, chairperson to Community Land Scotland - a charity for community landowners - insisted SLE’s report has failed to recognise that “alternative models to private ownership”, such as those who manage community-owned land, have also been recognised as “playing a vital role in building resilience in their local areas”.
On the subject of landowners’ reputation, she said: “Whether the image of a laird is outdated really is for the Scottish people to decide, not for those who might dislike it.”
She added: “In recent years land prices have been rising very significantly and private landowners have seen the value of their estates grow dramatically.
“This is clearly in part due to the considerable public financial support they enjoy – that does not seem to have been given particular prominence in the SLE report.”
In response to Raeburn’s comments, SLE chief executive Sarah-Jane Laing said its membership “is not limited to privately owned estates”.
Minister for Public Finance, Planning and Community Wealth Tom Arthur welcomed the report, stating that it “sets out a positive vision for the estates” and adding “we are committed to continuing to build on this work with Scottish Land & Estates with a view to building a nature positive well-being economy”.
In response to the report, a Scottish Government spokesperson said it is committed to working closely with all interested stakeholders, including SLE, to reach a wellbeing economy in Scotland.
“We will introduce the Land Reform Bill by this end of the year in order to encourage and support responsible and diverse landownership.
“Measures being put forward for this Bill are squarely aimed at strengthening regulation around the use of, and market in, large-scale landholdings in rural areas – tackling issues that provided the original motivation for our land reform policies.”
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