The debate continues over wealthy ‘green lairds’ buying land and receiving public money for environmental projects, used to offset harmful carbon emissions from their normal commercial activities.

But there is now an increasing national and international recognition of the vital role local communities must play if we are to tackle the global challenges of climate change and protecting and enhancing our precious biodiversity, according to Community Land Scotland.

It says progress is already being made by communities. From the rugged landscape of Harris, from where you can look out past golden eagles in flight to see St Kilda in the distance; to the patch of woodland which is a remaining stronghold for the endangered tree sparrow, despite overlooking busy Glasgow airport; and the work being done on the precious wetland marshes less than 20 miles from Selkirk – people are alive to what’s at stake.

Community Land Scotland chair Ailsa Raeburn says that too often it is assumed when discussing how to tackle the environmental crisis, that only massive projects covering thousands of acres will suffice:

“It is probably because of the scale of the challenge we are facing, but it ignores what has already been happening on the ground where communities have taken control of their local land. From the hydro scheme in Knoydart to the wind turbines on Gigha, the green energy grid on Eigg and Langholm’s Tarras Valley Nature Reserve, they have been well ahead of the curve.

“It is because when local residents decide to buy their land it has never been about carbon credits or green washing. It is about retaining population and protecting the environment that makes their place special to them. They aren’t driven by the same financial motivations as many private landowners who see the nature and climate crises as a way to increase the value of their asset”.

She said the importance of the environmental work communities were doing and the potential to achieve far more, was now being recognised by world bodies.

Community Land Scotland points to the landmark agreement struck by the UN Biodiversity Conference COP15 in Montreal in December. Crucially for the first time it accepted that the indigenous communities of the world are crucial to safeguarding nature. Their lands contain 80% of the planet’s remaining plant and animal species, despite having only 5% of the population.

Meanwhile at the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) at Interlaken in Switzerland last month, which agreed a ‘survival guide’ to avoid climate disaster, IPCC chair Hoesung Lee stressed: “Transformational changes are more likely to succeed where there is trust, where everyone works together to prioritise risk reduction, and where benefits and burdens are shared equitably” – words which could have been taken directly from the Scottish Government’s own commitment to a ‘just transition’ away from oil and gas.

Scottish Ministers created the Just Transition Commission to guide, oversee and scrutinise progress towards a carbon net zero economy, “in a way that delivers fairness and tackles inequality and injustice”. In its last report the commission highlighted the role local communities should play:

“Community ownership of environmentally beneficial land use activities can deliver the strongest alignment with just transition and community wealth building principles, thanks to being rooted in place; generating positive local multiplier effects; embedding collaboration into decision making; and delivering inclusive, well-paid jobs.”

It contrasted this to the concentration of private landownership in huge estates, which it saw as hurdles to the ‘just transition’ the Scottish Government is seeking.

Community leaders themselves underline their clear commitment to responsible management of the natural world.

Calum MacKay, chair of the North Harris Trust, which has embarked on a programme of woodland regeneration and planting, said: “It would be crazy trying to encourage young people to live in the rural environment, if you weren’t willing to protect it.”

Maggie Morrison, Senior Development Officer for the Inchinnan Development Trust, which saved a precious local woodland (home to threatened bird species) from becoming house sites, is equally clear: “If we don’t look after the wood and the natural life it supports, nobody will.”

Meanwhile the Ettrick and Yarrow Community Development Company (EYCDC) is involved in a major wetland restoration project, which is seeing wildlife prospering in Ettrick Marshes. Project manager Vicky Davidson said: “It’s a different feeling. Now local people can act together to improve their own local environment. Access to Ettrick Marshes was closed for years until the community gained ownership.”

A Tale of Three Communities.