Crofting reaches 3,000 milestone

The 3,000th croft has been added to the Crofting Register as teams at Registers of Scotland continue their work to have all 18,000 of the country’s crofts placed online.

The milestone represents an increase of 1,000 from last November when the 2,000-mark was reached. Indeed, the ongoing work has seen the figure rise from 1,000 to 3,000 in under two years.

Furthermore, there are 300 common grazings registered, too.

Introduced in 2012, the Crofting Register is the first official register to give crofters legal certainty over their crofts. Because the register is map-based, it offers guarantees on the extent of croft land and will secure the land for future generations.

Fergus Ewing MSP, the Cabinet Secretary for the Rural Economy and Connectivity, said: “The Scottish Government recognises the benefits delivered by crofting – sustaining agricultural activity; supporting the rural economy; enhancing wildlife and the natural environment; and retaining young people in our remote, rural and island communities. This is another significant milestone in establishing the full extent of croft land.”

John King, the business development director at Registers of Scotland, said: “Once again, our team has worked hard in the past few months to ensure we pass yet another impressive milestone. We now have a sixth of the country’s crofts on the Crofting Register and that number will continue to grow.”

Patrick Krause, chief executive of the Scottish Crofting Federation (SCF), said: “The SCF is the only organisation dedicated to representing crofters. We have worked with Registers of Scotland on the Crofting Register and community mapping for many years now.

“Getting to 3,000 is very significant progress and very encouraging. Registers of Scotland has put a great deal of effort and creativity into this very important initiative which we have appreciated participating in. Now for the next 1,000!”

Spokesman for the Inverness-based Crofting Commission Murdo Maclennan, said: “It is great to see the momentum of the Crofting Register continue to grow. To have reached 3,000 registered crofts and 300 common grazings in such a short space of time is a notable achievement in safeguarding the future of crofting.

“We look forward to seeing this figure increase and we are continuing to work closely with Registers of Scotland and crofters to ensure the registration process is as smooth as possible.”

The Crofting Register is a free-to-search, public register of crofts, common grazings, and land held runrig. “Runrig” means land that is divided into strips that belong to different people.

The register is map-based and shows defined extents of land and property on the Ordnance Survey map. It also contains information on the tenant or owner-occupier crofter on the land, as well as the landlord and/or the landowner of the registered land.