Interdisciplinary Scottish perspectives on Defra’s Land Use Framework proposals

By Dr Miranda Geelhoed, RESPECT Research Associate, on behalf of the RESPECT team

From 31 January until 25 April 2025, the UK Government sought public views on its proposals for a new Land Use Framework for England: a strategic policy to guide decisions on land use and balance competing demands like food production, housing, climate mitigation and nature restoration. The RESPECT project – which focuses on enabling peatland restoration on agricultural land – joined the conversation with a response that brings together understandings of key land use change challenges across our inter-disciplinary scientific team. At its core, the response calls for place-based solutions; championing multifunctional approaches that are rooted at the local level. Scotland’s emphasis on the role of communities in policies and decisions on land use offers valuable lessons in this regard.

A new Land Use Framework – key elements and principles

The consultation document sets out a vision for land use in England that makes space for climate and nature whilst supporting sustainable and resilient food production. It outlines five categories to define types of land use change and assess the scale of change needed. Changes in the management of farmland without a change in agricultural use (category 1) are not included in the proposed framework. The categories that are included range from agricultural land that only requires small land use changes (category 2) to land that needs to be completely dedicated to environmental and climate benefits only (category 4).

In addition, the proposals provide five principles that the UK Government will apply to policy with land use implications [for full descriptions see page 18 of the consultation document]:

-       Co-design: support participation and leadership at local and regional scales.

-       Multifunctional land use: enable multiple benefits on land.

-       Playing to the strengths of the land: support and spatially target land use change to locations where benefits are greater, and trade-offs are lower.

-       Decisions fit for the long-term: take a long-term view of changing land suitability, prioritising resilience (including to the impacts of climate change).

-       Responsive by design: be responsive to new data, opportunities and pressures.

The idea is that implementation of the principles would help align policy and financial incentives to support land use changes and allow for more joined-up decisions on land use.

Multifunctional land use and peatlands: the need for a place-based approach

The Defra consultation speaks about “making land more multifunctional alongside food production”. However, as observed by the House of Lords Land Use in England Committee in 2022, “there is no single universally accepted definition of multifunctionality, nor any agreed methods for assessing and measuring its performance” (p 53).

In practice, discussions around multifunctionality have often been shaped by two approaches to balancing agricultural production and climate/nature: a land sparing approach and a land sharing approach. Land sparing is based on the idea that some land is set aside for environmental purposes whilst other land is used almost exclusively for production of food (as well as fuel and fibre). This involves the offsetting of a loss of production in the environmental areas by intensification of production in the agricultural areas. Land sharing refers to a more integrated approach where (lower intensity) farming and nature/climate benefits go hand-in-hand. Land sparing and land sharing effectively sit on opposite sides of a continuum with various combinations possible.

In our response, RESPECT raises concerns about where the Land Use Framework proposals position themselves. The consultation document states that 5% of England's agricultural land will need to be dedicated “mainly” to providing environmental and climate benefits, with limited food production. It indicates that a further 9% of agricultural land will have to be “fully dedicated” to delivering environmental and climate benefits. This is particularly relevant for peatlands, which the Framework places squarely in these ‘land sparing’ categories, despite the focus of the Environmental Improvement Plan 2023 on, and research into, potential new wetter modes of farming in peatland areas (e.g., to produce thatching reed).

Some key observations that we have made:

-       The proposals assume that a decrease in agricultural area will be offset by increasing productivity elsewhere, raising questions about the feasibility of continuous productivity gains and desirability of intensification in specific areas because of potential localised and national social and environmental impacts. Alternative ways of dealing with some decreases in production, e.g., supporting changes in diets/energy use/consumption, are not considered in the consultation.

-       Multifunctionality is not only achievable in field margins or on set aside land. By separating questions of land use and land management, the Framework disregards the diversity of farming practices and their negative and positive impacts on nature and climate (e.g., agroecological systems). Leaving land management to a Roadmap for Farming is a missed opportunity for a truly integrated approach to land use.

-       Environmental objectives are not only important for low-productivity areas. It is unclear how the Framework will deal with the biggest land use challenge of high productivity areas with key habitats, e.g., lowland raised bogs in the Humber catchment.

To address land use tensions, RESPECT recommends that the Framework provides flexibility for place-based decisions that balance peat-health, agricultural production and the needs of local communities and economies. RESPECT will work with landowners and communities to understand local physical and social capacities to contribute to net zero in the Humber catchment. This means incorporating historic environmental data to address current and future land use challenges, and generating an understanding of local hydrology, habitats and vulnerability to climate change. It also means understanding landholders’ practices, motivations and constraints and the priorities of local communities. It is with regard to the latter that lessons should be drawn from the Scottish approach to tackling land use challenges.

Scottish communities at the core of land use policy

The Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 obliged Scottish Ministers to publish a land use strategy to set out the Scottish Government’s objectives in relation to sustainable land use and proposals and policies for meeting those objectives. The first strategy was published in 2011, and the current (third) strategy covers 2021-2026. The strategies have not been without criticism as organisations and academics have highlighted a lack of political and financial support overall and particularly for realising ‘multiple benefits’ from land (as the first principle of the first Land Use Strategy).

One thing, however, stands out – the central role of communities in all of Scotland’s land use strategies which frame land not only as a physical space but as “a core component of our identity”. The current strategy emphasises Scotland’s rights-based approach to land by integrating in its Annex the principles of the Scottish Land Rights and Responsibilities Statement (LRRS). This statement highlights the key role for land in building a fair society and contributing to community wellbeing and future development. A series of protocols around the LRRS by the Scottish Land Commission – a public body tasked, among other things, with embedding responsible land ownership and use – clarifies that the Scottish approach aims to go far beyond ‘co-design’ and participation at strategic level to involving communities directly in decisions relating to land use at local level, and delivering public and community benefits from land including through collaborative governance models.

A number of policy and practical initiatives illustrate how this can be put into practice:

-       Regional Land Use Partnerships piloted in five regions aim to facilitate collaboration between local government, communities, landholders and other stakeholders. In the South of Scotland this recently led to the first Regional Land Use Framework.

-       Legal obligations on large-scale landowners to produce publicly available Land Management Plans developed through engagement with communities, as proposed under the Land Reform Bill. Community bodies can also report a breach of this obligation to a new Land and Communities Commissioner.

-       The Scottish Government’s Principles for Responsible Investment in Natural Capital which state that investment in and use of Scotland’s natural capital should create benefits that are shared between public, private and community interests.

-       Advisory services within the Scottish Land Commission (public body) and Community Land Scotland (NGO) to support the delivery of community benefits from natural capital and support partnership projects with local communities.

RESPECT’s vision for a just and multifunctional Land Use Framework

It is the view of the interdisciplinary RESPECT team that, if revised, a Land Use Framework could support a just transition towards multifunctional landscapes. Our project contributes a vital and timely perspective to future land use discussions across England and Scotland by combining interdisciplinary scientific insights with deep engagement in local contexts. RESPECT will help policy- and decision-makers understand the physical capacity of peatlands and the social capacities of landholders and communities. These insights, along with proposals for policy and governance reform informed by comparative policy analysis, are designed to support a just transition – tailored to the specific needs of the land and its people.

Photo image: RESPECT’s project CO-I Dr Katherine Simpson (left) and PI Professor Jill Robbie (right) in a lowland peat bog. Copyright Miranda Geelhoed.