By Aileen McLeod

Our land is at the heart of our economy and the backdrop to our society. It provides employment, food, water, places to be more active in and it attracts visitors from around the world.

But with these benefits come responsibilities. We are guardians of our land for the generations that will follow. That is why we have been on a journey of reforming how our land is owned, used and managed, from the crofting reforms of the 19th century to legislation on rights of access that were enshrined in the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003.

Although the ownership and use of land is also of great significance in other countries, Scotland’s land reform journey has focused strongly on sustainable development and the public interest.

The Community Right to Buy, enshrined in the 2003 Act, as expanded and improved in the recent Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015, and the new proposed right to buy land to promote sustainable development, are unique pieces of legislation despite the growing community land trust movement in North America and Europe.

The next steps in Scotland’s journey will continue with the return of the Scottish Parliament. Our Land Reform (Scotland) Bill was introduced in June and will continue its progress.

Over the next few months the Rural Affairs, Environment and Climate Change committee will take evidence on the bill and I’m sure much will be said about the underlying aims and detail of the provisions.

Throughout the development of the policy and through the consultation, I have been very clear that land reform is about putting fairness, equality and social justice at the heart of the system of land ownership.

We want people the length and breadth of urban and rural Scotland to reap the benefits of the land in and around their communities.

That is why the bill is designed to encourage and support responsible and diverse landownership and to make sure that we as a nation, get the most from our land, now and for years to come. The bill includes specific measures to end rates exemptions for shooting and deerstalking, bringing them into line with other businesses.

It will create a Tenant Farming Commissioner as part of the Scottish Land Commission, along with other modernising elements of tenant farming legislation.

The proposals to provide additional powers to request information about the individuals who own and control land will encourage better information and greater transparency.

Further provisions will help ensure that, where land is owned by companies or trusts and there is a need to know information about individuals with control of land, this information will be able to be obtained, regardless of whether the land is owned by a Scottish, UK, EU or international interest.

These proposals in the bill, along with our commitment to complete the Land Register by 2024 and to explore the establishment of a Scottish Land Information System, will lay strong foundations to ensure that transparency of landownership is greatly improved.

There are also measures in the bill to strengthen the regulators' hand in instances where landowners are failing to take their deer management responsibilities seriously and to make improvements to both systems of common good land and public access legislation.

Responsible land owners have nothing to fear from this bill. The vast majority recognise they have a responsibility to the community living and working on, and around, their land.

Land reform is about supporting and encouraging more engagement and partnership between communities and landowners.

I’ve seen and heard of great examples from communities benefitting from owning land or working more closely with local landowners, for example with the creation of modern apprenticeships to help youngsters find employment or affordable housing to help families stay in their community.

But we aren’t just legislating. We are also providing support to help more communities realise their dream of owning their land.

The Scottish Land Fund has enabled an average of one community to take land and buildings into community ownership each month since June 2012.

When it comes to reforming the system of land ownership, we must be ambitious. The Land Reform Bill contains far-reaching proposals to continue our efforts to ensure a fairer system that sees our land benefit the people of Scotland.

Aileen McLeod is Minister for the Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform in the Scottish Government.