COULD MORE OF SCOTLAND BE COMMUNITY OWNED?

From the wild mountains in the north to the rolling hills of the south, much of Scotland's countryside is owned by a relatively small number of private landowners and public bodies

- JOHN CRAVEN

But a shake-up is underway that could result in local communities taking over when big estates come up for sale.

For centuries, the lairds were all-powerful, but in recent years many have been selling out to investors, such as Anders Holch Povlsen, the Danish billionaire who now owns 89,400 hectares of Scotland. With this has come growing concern about the adverse effects of scale, when so many of the nation's natural resources are in so few hands. Campaigners say that knowing who owns and controls the land is crucial in building a "fairer, greener Scotland".