Background
The national Land Use Strategy sets out Scottish Government’s long-term vision for sustainable land, identifies Regional Land Use Partnerships (RLUPs) as a mechanism to address the twin crises of Climate Change and biodiversity loss, and help us on our journey to a Just Transition to Net Zero.
The RLUPs will help national and local government, communities, landowners, and stakeholders work together to optimise sustainable land use in a fair and inclusive way.
The RLUP pilots tested approaches to governance through collaboration and development of a Regional Land Use Framework (RLUF) adopting a natural capital approach to prioritise land use change to address the twin environmental crises.
The South of Scotland pilot was led by SOSE, Dumfries and Galloway Council and Scottish Borders Council.
The other pilots were Aberdeenshire, Highland, Cairngorms National Park Authority and Loch Lomond & Trossachs National Park Authority.
Transition to a national initiative
The RLUF was officially launched by the South of Scotland Regional Economic Partnership on 30 September 2024 and forms part of the delivery plan of the Regional Economic Strategy.
The RLUF is also a key component for the delivery of Scotland’s first Natural Capital Innovation Zone.
Scottish Ministers announced in April 2024 that the Regional Land Use Partnership programme is to be accelerated as part of Scottish Government’s response to climate change.
The South of Scotland pilot will now transition into a delivery phase as the RLUP, a strategic group of the Regional Economic Partnership, overseeing the implementation of the RLUF.
The RLUF vision is illustrated in a set of future landscapes for 2045, to show the kinds of land use change that may deliver a nature positive and climate resilient environment in the lowlands and uplands of the South of Scotland. This supports a green and sustainable economy that harnesses and enhances our natural capital.
The Scottish Government is continuing to work with 4 RLUPs, including the South of Scotland, to begin the transition from the pilot programme into a national initiative through the development of a national RLUP framework to demonstrate and drive regional land use collaboration between stakeholders to ensure mutual prosperity whilst tackling the climate and biodiversity crises at a regional level.
Actions will be aimed at supporting both natural capital improvements and community benefits, as well as helping to continue to build an evidence base to inform future thinking on regional and sub-regional collaboration.
There are three key workstreams in this transition phase
1. Establishment of a national support framework.
2. Establishment, planning and delivery of Regional actions.
3. Exploration of the RLUPs' potential sphere of policy influence (including Private investment in natural capital, Agricultural, Forestry, Peatland, Biodiversity, Planning and wider regional partnerships e.g. Regional Economic Partnerships, Regional Adaptation Partnerships and Climate Action Hubs).
The RLUP is actively co-developing the national framework with Scottish Government. A draft Framework is to be completed by the end of March 2026, and there will be national and regional consultation during the remainder of 2026 with the National Framework to be approved by Ministers in spring 2027.
Regional actions are also underway, linked to the actions of the RLUF, including catchment-based studies for natural capital in the Lyne water and Nith catchments, developing a Regional Peatland Plan – a potential first for Scotland, and producing the first State of Nature Report for the region. There is also support for the national Natural Capital Community Partnership programme with a regional adviser based in the South of Scotland. The relevant project reports can be found through the delivery projects link below. Five delivery projects are also emerging from the linked Borderlands Natural Capital Scotland programme.
Further guidance on RLUPs and details are being developed with Scottish Government and further information will be posted here.