Director of Policy David Fleetwood gives evidence on Land Reform Bill

On Tuesday 4 February, Director of Policy David Fleetwood gave evidence to the Net Zero and Transport Committee, setting out the Trust’s views on the Land Reform Bill.

David (pictured below) was joined by representitives from other Environmental NGOs to give evidence on the Scottish Government's Land Reform Bill.

David set out the Trust’s view that land reform is needed in Scotland because the track record of most large landowners shows that their approach is not achieving the outcomes we need in the face of a nature and climate emergency.

This was supported by evidence from work published by Scottish Land and Estates (SLE) on activities of their members (larger landowners in Scotland), which shows that:

•  54% of estates don’t restore rivers, flood plains or riparian habitats.
• 57% don’t plant and maintain hedges for wildlife or implement natural solutions to manage floodwater.
• 66% aren’t involved in managing or creating woodland.
• 70% aren’t involved in restoring grassland, wetland, heathland and/or costal habitats.
• 71% aren’t engaged in peatland restoration.

From "The Contribution of Scotland's rural estates to building a wellbeing economy" - SLE - 2023

David’s strong advice to the committee was that they should consider the following improvements to the bill:

• Reinstate a Public Interest Test  
• Ensure Land Development Plans deliver in the public interest 
• Align the thresholds to qualify as large landholding at 1,000 hectares

You can watch David give evidence to the Net Zero and Transport Committee on the Scottish Parliament website