Consultation: Scotland's Third Land Use Strategy

We think the vision needs updating to make it more relevant to current priorities. It needs to mention, Climate Change, biodiversity loss, achieving a balanced approach to land use i.e., Ecosystems approach. Land use needs to achieve multiple benefits from public investment and a holistic approach to avoid unintended consequences.

All objectives could benefit from being updated but especially the first one. More reference required to sustainable development and land use economy, recognising the importance of natural capital underpinning Scotland’s economic activity. To achieve the objectives there needs to be a recognition that there will be trade-offs and difficult decisions required to achieve sustainable land use, resulting in changes to the current status quo of land use sectors.

This landscape approach does simplify the issues and makes the subject accessible to a wider audience. However, this approach simplifies complex issues and landscape categories, it needs to be recognised that it may be more difficult to achieve a balanced land use approach in practice.
There needs to be a cleared definition between forestry and native woodlands. There also needs to be more emphasis placed on the concept of right tree in the right place and the benefits of tree planting not only for carbon capture but also for biodiversity, health and wellbeing and recreation.
It needs to be made clear that initiatives mentioned under one landscape type may also be applicable to other landscapes.
If we are wanting to relate to a wider audience, we suggest using ‘Urban Fringe’ rather than ‘Peri Urban’.
It should be recognised that the Crichton Carbon Centre was instrumental in the development of the peatland Carbon Code

The three headings do reinforce the NPF 4 themes however the impact that the economy has on land use, both positive and negative, needs to be identified as an additional theme e.g., NPF 4 has a wellbeing economy theme.
It is positive that Biodiversity is a cross cutting theme however it should be mentioned more in the main policy paragraphs below the landscape types.
There seams to be much emphasis placed on the Biodiversity Fund however the value of this fund when compared to other land use priorities look rather insignificant.
Examples /case studies should reflect a more balanced spread representing the whole country i.e., biodiversity actions seam to focus on the highland and islands, in our region for example, the work of the Galloway and South Ayrshire Biosphere and the Borders Forest Trust is significant in terms of biodiversity, community engagement and sustainable land use.

Delivery on the ground will be enhanced with the role out of the Regional Land Use Partnerships which will give a greater focus to land use policy at a local level. It is important the RLUPS are given adequate resources and influence over local policy to achieve balanced, sustainable land use in their areas.
The Scottish Government cannot deliver sustainable land use on its own, realistically it can only be achieved through collaboration, partnership, and action by people across Scotland. A better heading therefore might be ‘How we are helping to deliver sustainable land use’.
We hope that the implications of the new iteration of the LU strategy does not lose important elements of the previous versions of the strategy, such as the 10 principles, policies and purposes and an the importance of an ecosystems services approach.