The SNP is considering a crackdown on so-called “green lairds” by ensuring only local landowners can access grants for tree-planting and peatland restoration.
Land Reform Minister Màiri McAllan said she was looking into the measure after it was proposed in Holyrood by Labour’s Rhoda Grant on Tuesday.
She said she would seek views on the idea by including it in a consultation on Scotland’s new Land Reform Bill, which will be launched this summer.
Concerns have been growing over the last year about the rise of the phenomenon known as Green Lairds.
This new generation of landowners are accused of inflating the market and pricing out community groups in the rush to offset damaging emissions.
They take advantage of government grants for tree-planting, peatland restoration and other initiatives.
A recent report by the Scottish Land Commission showed prices for estates had doubled in just the last year.
It found almost two-thirds of the deals were done in secret and half of the estates were sold to corporate bodies, investment funds or charitable trusts.
At Holyrood on Tuesday, Ms Grant said: “These types of sales are increasing and they actually stop communities purchasing their land.
“It also continues the concentration of land in a small number of hands.
“We need action to prevent it now. It’s not in the public interest and it’s not in the interest of our planet.”
The Highlands and Islands MSP asked Ms McAllan if she would consider ending payments of public subsidies to landowners who do not live on their land, or those who do not pay their taxes in the UK.
The minister said: “That’s something I’m considering and will look to include questions on that issue within the consultation.”
‘With opportunity comes risk’
Ms McAllan added: “Scotland’s natural environment is going to be absolutely critical in our actions to tackle climate change and to avoid ecological breakdown.
“We are very fortunate to have such potential in Scotland’s natural world to sequester carbon, to support biodiversity, and that through woodland creation, peatland restoration, energy generation, blue carbon and many more.
“This will help us reach net zero, but it is also a real opportunity for our rural communities for investment and for good green jobs in industries of the future.
“But I understand that with opportunity comes risk, and that’s why I’m seeking to mitigate that with a series of options.”