The commission also said owners in many areas had a positive impact on the local community and economy, and highlighted how some were actively increasing the diversity of ownership by selling off some of their land.
But Sarah-Jane Laing, chief executive of Scottish Land and Estates SLE - which represents landowners - is worried that the land commission "still sees land ownership rather than land use as the prime route to dealing with issues being faced by communities". The SLE also points out that Scotland's three new towns, such as Tornagrain in the Highlands, are being developed by rural landowners, and that private estates support about 8, jobs nationwide.
There have been some fairly big changes to land laws in recent years, largely aimed at making it easier for local communities to purchase the land they live on. Among the most high-profile of these community buyouts have been on the Isle of Eigg and on the South Uist Estate, which includes the islands of Benbecula and Eriskay.
Since then, residents have built three huge wind turbines - named Wendy, Fanny and Blowy - which have helped to boost the economy of the islands. Alex Salmond, the then-first minister, set a target in of one million acres of Scotland being owned by local communities by the end of The latest available figures show there are now , acres in community ownership across the country - including a Cold War surveillance station on the Isle of Lewis and a former church in Edinburgh.
Ministers are also considering the recommendations of the Scottish Land Commission, which include a public interest test for significant land transfers. Further reforms seem highly likely, with government ministers consistently stressing that land reform is on a "radical journey".
Ian Cooke, director of Development Trusts Association Scotland, which helps community groups secure land, said: "For a range of reasons, I don't think many people thought this was a realistic target when Alex Salmond announced it, but it has usefully focused minds and driven activity towards more community ownership. Mr Cooke points out "community ownership is a means to an end, rather than an end itself" and predicted a bigger role for local people in the lands around them in the future.
Do you have any other questions around land ownership - or any other topic - in Scotland that you'd like us to investigate? If you are reading this page on the BBC News app, you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question on this topic. This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
So who owns what in Scotland? Image source, Getty Images. Unfortunately, this is a tough one to answer. The Duke, the Sheikh and the Danish billionaire. Image source, Buccleuch Group. The Duke of Buccleuch has been selling off parts of his vast estate in recent years. One argument in favour of selling souvenir plots is the fact that they are sometimes coupled with nature conservation activities. One example is Wildcat Haven, where people are offered pieces of land on a wildcat conservation reserve.
Yet any conservation activity tied to land ownership is susceptible to the criticism that it is at the whim of the owner, potentially at the expense of a joined-up approach. Aside from conservation, there is sometimes a danger of prioritising the wishes of a pseudo-community of souvenir plot holders over a nearby resident community. Breaking land into tiny portions also makes it hard to manage and makes future dealings tricky. In effect, it sterilises the land. There is also an administrative burden associated with registering lots of fiddly plots, albeit the English Land Registry seems to have coped.
Some , individuals have chosen to purchase an inexpensive souvenir plot of land and 5,, visit the land annually to the great benefit of Scottish tourism. Permitting registration … would be simple and inexpensive. The Scottish government did not heed the request. The Land Reform Bill now working its way through Holyrood is silent in this area. He certainly makes it sound appealing — ecological spin-offs like this may well be worth singing about.
While that may be so, there is a strong argument that encouraging very occasional visitors to lord it over the locals is not desirable — even before you consider the curious cultural effect that it might have. We need many more people with a stake in the land," he said. They are denying it's a problem but they are conceding it is one of the central issues which is very interesting because they cannot win in the long term," he added. Three-quarters of respondents to the review - which will report in April next year - said they were content with the current status quo.
Half of all submissions came from estates, farm owners, landowners and their representatives. Sarah-Jane Laing, director of policy and parliamentary affairs at Scottish Land and Estates, which represents Scottish landowners said its members did not oppose community buyouts.
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