Last week I launched one of the most important studies this Government will undertake - a comprehensive review of rural land use which will inform decisions for years to come.
Together with my colleague, Environment Minister Michael Russell, I called together over 70 representatives from organisations with an interest in land use to kick-start the Rural Land Use Study, a major over-arching review of the potential of Scotland's rural land.
Our land is our greatest natural asset, but it is also one upon which there are increasing and ever changing demands.
For example, the areas of the greatest projected population growth, in the Borders and around Fife, are the same areas where some of our finest agricultural land exists. Demand for the need to provide housing to accommodate population growth has to be balanced against the need to provide food and space for people to undertake leisure pursuits.
This balance is complicated further by climate change which threatens to alter the very fabric of rural Scotland. Warmer, wetter summers will change what plants we can grow, what animals will thrive and where people can live.
It is time for Scotland to take stock and consider how to make best use of our land. That is why I invited experts - leading specialists in areas such as agriculture, forestry, planning and tourism - to discuss in detail the conflicting and complementary pressures on land use, identifying what information we have and which areas require further study.
They provided us with valuable input which will help shape the agenda for the Rural Land Use Study, covering issues such as the potential impact on land use of:
- Climate change
- The reform of the Common Agricultural Policy and globalisation
- Food demand and supply
- Population and settlement growth
- Protection of the environment and heritage
The various work-streams of the study will map out what our land is currently used for, future potential uses of that land and the conflicting and complementary pressures upon it.
This work will culminate in a Rural Land Use Summit late next year (2009) which will bring together experts and interested organisations from across Scotland to hear and debate the findings and its implications.
Information coming from the research and the summit will provide an evidence-base for Government, local authorities and communities to make use of in understanding the potential of their land and informing their decisions on how it is used.
This is all about improving the quality of life for people in Scotland. We need to ensure that communities have a voice in discussions on land use and have the information and capacity to consider the impacts of changes in land use for them. How we utilise the land will determine to what extent we are successful in delivering in areas such as food security and renewable energy production and how we meet the needs of the people of Scotland for years to come.