Holyrood politicians have voted to double the number of landowners who must show how they support people to access their land for activities like walking.

Scotland’s new Land Reform Bill will require estates for the first time to publish Land Management Plans, including how they welcome visitors, support nature and comply with the Scottish Outdoor Access Code.

These plans will help the public make the most of Scotland’s world-class access rights, often called the ‘Right to Roam’. Plans may showcase estates’ main paths, gates, stiles and bridges, and advice on how activities like shooting or forestry might affect access.

Until the new amendment was passed, only extremely large estates of more than 3,000 hectares – the equivalent of 6,000 football pitches – were going to have to publish Land Management Plans.

However, after campaigning from Ramblers Scotland, John Muir Trust and others, MSPs voted on 10 June to lower that threshold to 1,000 hectares, doubling the number of affected estates to a total of about 700.

Ramblers Scotland’s Director Brendan Paddy said: “Two decades after Scotland’s world-class access rights became law, walking is more popular than ever. However, we still see too many cases of walkers facing barriers like locked gates, misleading signage, or impassable fences.

“We warmly welcome MSPs’ decision to expand the Bill to include many more estates. This will break down barriers to walking and benefit more of the green spaces nearer to towns and cities.

“Land Management Plans offer a valuable opportunity for landowners to proactively demonstrate how they support access. Their publication will also encourage responsible behaviour from visitors.”

The change has also been welcomed by John Muir Trust, an environmental charity that owns around 25,000 hectares of land in Scotland.

Thomas Widrow, John Muir Trust’s Head of Campaigns, said: “The Land Reform Bill is a critical piece of legislation for wild places. We have been making a strong case to lower the threshold for defining a ‘large landholding' down to 1,000 hectares so we are delighted that MSPs have taken our advice.

“Land Management Plans must deliver for wild places. That is why we need to make sure large estates are legally obliged to manage the land in their care for nature restoration, with local communities at the heart of that effort.

“As a significant landowner ourselves, we would be subject to this new requirement. We are clear that having a legal obligation to develop Land Management Plans is absolutely needed. Nature is collapsing, and wild places are under threat across the country. The Land Reform Bill can help reverse that trend, if enough large landowners like ourselves are subject to the requirements.”

Before the amendment was passed, only about 400 landowners, mostly in the northern half of Scotland, were going to have to publish Land Management Plans.

Ramblers Scotland has welcomed assurances that all Land Management Plans will be easily accessible to the public on a single website.

Nearly all smaller family farms will be unaffected by the change. In fact, even if the threshold for Land Management Plans was halved to 500 hectares, 96% of agriculture holdings in Scotland would be exempt.

Notes to editors

Read Ramblers Scotland’s full briefing to MSPs here: https://cdn.ramblers.org.uk/media/files/briefing-ramblers-scot-lr-bill-stage-1-debate-march-2025.pdf

Three-quarters of Scottish adults now walk for recreation at least once a month.

For further information or to arrange interviews, please contact the Ramblers Scotland press office on 07557 527607 or email scotland@ramblers.org.uk.

Ramblers Scotland is a charity that promotes walking and champions our nation’s world-class access rights, while running 3,500 group walks a year, led by 1,300 volunteers. www.ramblers.org.uk/scotland

We are proud to be part of the Ramblers, Britain’s walking charity. Together, we open the way so everyone can get out and go walking – in towns and cities, through fields and forests, along coastlines or mountaintops. Across Britain, we break down barriers that stand in the way and give more people the opportunity to walk.