Land Use
On this page, read more about:
- The NW2045 Regional Land Use Partnership: the Land+ Approach
- Read more about our work in the NW2045 RLUP Land+ Handbook
- Recent and ongoing RLUP work
- The first NW2045 RLUP Gathering: Elphin, May 2026
- The Land+ Snapshot research: February-March 2026
- At Home in Mackay Country, an RLUP collaboration
- Why Scotland needs RLUPs: the bigger picture
Land – and how it is used – is a vital issue in our area.
The NW2045 Vision says that our communities want this to be:
“A place where our communities can determine their own prospects…(and)…a place where our communities have a clear voice in shaping the prospects of our place and in decisions made about land and other natural resources.”
The NW2045 area contains some of Scotland’s most significant natural assets. Its peatlands form part of the widest expanse in Europe and are a critical carbon sink. Its coastline, lochs and marine environment hold enormous value for biodiversity and blue carbon. And the potential for renewable energy generation, both onshore and offshore, is substantial. The area has multiple overlapping designations – areas that are recognised as special for their important biodiversity at a national (and international) level. But much of this biodiversity is in decline.
How the land (and sea) is used, who benefits from it, and who has a say in decisions about it, are hugely important – and hugely emotive – questions.
To achieve Scotland’s climate and biodiversity targets will require significant changes to how land is used in the coming years. Those changes will have a direct impact on the people living on and around that land. Different groups, including communities, crofters, landowners (public, private and charity) and public bodies, of course have different priorities.
We are fortunate that the NW2045 is home to one of four Regional Land Use Partnerships (RLUPs) across Scotland, which supports our work on land issues.
The NW2045 Regional Land Use Partnership: the Land+ Approach
The purpose of our RLUP is to help people work together on land issues, for the good of the community, the land, and wider society.
This is a long-term way of working, not a short-term project with pre-defined objectives.
Our RLUP creates opportunities for the whole ‘community of place’ – residents, crofters, landowners, land managers – and local and national government and other external agencies – to have open, respectful conversations about land use issues, find solutions, and work together to make them happen.
We aim to create the right conditions for positive change by helping to build trusting relationships, encouraging conversations, catalysing collaboration and giving people hope that change is possible.
By working in genuine partnership, we hope people will feel empowered to create the future that this special place needs.
We call our RLUP work the ‘Land+ approach’, because Land is fundamental and connected to all other areas of life here.
Read more about our work in the NW2045 RLUP Land+ Handbook
Published in Summer 2025, the Land+ Handbook brings together all the experiences and insights developed since the NW2045 RLUP pilot began in 2021. It outlines 10 Principles of the Land+ approach and shares practical Lessons Learned from the work.
In Spring 2026, the team produced the Handbook Summary, updated with developments since 2025.
Recent and ongoing RLUP work
The first NW2045 RLUP Gathering: Elphin, May 2026.
22nd May 2026 was a big day for the NW2045 RLUP team: after months of planning we held our first in-person Gathering to discuss the findings of the Land+ Snapshot research and explore possibilities for collaboration across the area.
This Gathering was an exciting next step on our RLUP journey: the beginning of new collaborations on a wide range of issues across the area.
Read more about this in our recent Blog.
The Land+ Snapshot research: February-March 2026
Building on our original Land+ work in Kinlochbervie (read more in Land+ Handbook), we have expanded this valuable way of working across the NW2045 area. We recruited Community Co-Leads and asked them to talk to people in their own our communities what matters most about the land, to provide us with a snapshot of land-use issues.
The recurring themes may not be surprising:
- Opportunities for young people
- Land management
- Crofting and access to land
- Housing
- Renewable energy and infrastructure
- Tourism was also an issue in some of the areas.
- Cutting across all these themes is the issue of community voice and empowerment.
Read more about this work in our blog, and access the full report here. Read more about how we are using the Land+ Snapshot to define the next steps for the RLUP work in our Elphin Gathering blog.
At Home in Mackay Country – an RLUP collaboration
A new collaborative community project is underway, connecting recent work on Intangible Cultural Heritage by the Land+ team (as detailed in the RLUP Land+ handbook here) and Strathnaver Museum.
Rachel Skene (NW2045) and Fiona Mackenzie (Strathnaver Museum) are working with Ronnie Lansley as Tradition Bearer in Residence and Apprentice Sophie Clark to connect past and current activity, with input from across the area.
Read more about this work on our Community Life, Culture and Identity page, and the Strathnaver Museum website.
Why Scotland needs RLUPs: the bigger picture
RLUPs are a ScotGov initiative intended to help local people and government plan and act together.
The Scottish Government has long term goals for improving how land is used and developed, in response to the climate and nature crises and economic pressures. A range of policies and plans – some of which are already in place and others still being developed – support these goals and will impact Scotland’s landscapes.
There are some difficult choices to be made regarding changes in how land is used: for example, balancing the needs, benefits and risks of woodland creation, nature recovery, renewable energy, food production and housing.
ScotGov knows that, to achieve the substantial change that is needed, it is crucial that decisions are made with and by the people most affected – the people living in the area.
RLUPs are a way to help national and regional government, communities (including landowners, farmers and crofters) and other organisations to come together and plan how land is used across a region, linking local needs and opportunities with national goals, policies and plans.
RLUP Pilots were established in 2021 and are now transitioning to becoming formal initiatives. The other RLUPs are in South of Scotland (hosted by South of Scotland Enterprise), Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park and Cairngorms National Park. In time, more RLUPs will be established across Scotland. The existing RLUPs are supporting ScotGov to develop a National Framework for establishing other RLUPs across the country. Watch this space for more information about this work.
