Landscape and the historic environment

Scotland’s landscapes frame our day to day lives. They are key to our communities, our sense of identity, pride of place and they drive our tourist economy. All of Scotland’s landscapes and environments have been shaped by millennia of human interaction, they are a combination of historic and natural factors.

Monuments and buildings, like cairns, castles, churches and settlements are key landscape features. Together with fields, past land-use and woodlands the historic environment adds to the richness of the character of our landscapes. By enriching soils and providing unique homes for wildlife and vegetation, the historic environment provides nutrients for plant growth and creates ecosystems that support biodiversity. Historic skylines, green spaces and the grain of settlement shape our towns and cities.

Our landscapes are one of our greatest assets, but they are subject to change. Change can come in many forms and can include new developments, alterations to land management, and the effect of climate change. We can control some of these changes, but others we have to prepare for and adapt to.

As the lead public body for Scotland’s historic environment, we work with other public bodies to protect and care for our special landscapes, and to address the challenges that all landscapes face.

The European Landscape Convention is an international treaty devoted to all aspects of European landscape. It promotes protection and management of all landscapes.

The Convention defines landscape as:

"An area as perceived by people, whose character is the result of the action and interaction of natural and/or human factors."

The UK government signed up to the treaty in 2006, and we have a role in putting it into practice. We do this in a number of ways, working with different groups:

• Recognition - we help communities to understand and explore what is special about their place

• Protection - we identify special landscapes and help to protect through designation and guidance

• Management - we work with local authorities to support the creation of sustainable places to live and work

We work closely with the Scottish Landscapes Alliance (SLA) to promote Scotland’s Landscape Charter which aims to help delivery of the European Landscape Convention.

Download information about the Charter from the SLA

All of Scotland’s landscapes have been affected by people over time, and they continue to be today. They can be special because of their natural elements, their cultural elements, or a combination of the two.

Some of our designations have elements of landscape within them. Designations exist to help make sure that what is special about a place is protected for people to understand and enjoy now and in the future. Historic environment designations that include aspects of landscape include gardens and designed landscapes, historic battlefields and World Heritage Sites.

Find out more about Protected Historic Places

There are a number of other landscape designations which focus more on natural factors. These landscapes often have a strong historic element, too.

Scotland also has two National Parks – the Cairngorms and Loch Lomond and the Trossachs. The Parks are designated under the National Parks (Scotland) Act 2000 ‘to conserve and enhance the cultural and natural heritage of area’.

Lots of local authorities manage their own Local Landscape Designations. These can help communities and decision-makers to understand what makes the places in their areas special. Working with NatureScot, we have developed Guidance on Designating Local Landscape Areas:

We work with a number of public bodies to promote landscape issues and protect our special landscapes.

One key partnership is with NatureScot (formerly Scottish Natural Heritage). As the two lead heritage bodies in Scotland, we both have an important role in landscape issues. Our joint statement on landscape, People, Place and Landscape, sets out our common position on landscape.

The historic environment is also embedded into Scotland’s approach to Landscape Character Assessment.

Eco-system Services and Natural Capital approaches are designed to help decision making related to the management of our landscapes. We are keen to work with others to help better recognise the contribution of the historic environment to makes to our assets and the services they provide.

More about Landscape Character Assessment from NatureScot

Other partnerships

We work with the Heritage Lottery Fund and other partners, including local authorities and government agencies, on landscape-scale projects supported through their funding schemes. These projects can make a huge difference to landscapes and the communities who live and work in them, and to visitors.

These projects can protect the historic environment and improve access to it; provide training and experience and support greater diversity.

Heritage Lottery Fund website

This joint statement with NatureScot sets out how we work together to consider all landscapes in Scotland. It recognises that all of our landscapes have cultural and natural elements. This follows the approach set out in the European Landscape Convention.

We recognise that Scotland’s landscapes are highly valued nationally and internationally. Our landscapes provide a wide range of benefits to people - from health and well-being to inspiration for the creative arts.

The statement is in line with Scotland’s strategy for the historic environment. It also reflects Historic Environment Policy for Scotland.

To help improve our understanding of the past as well as enabling research into topics like the impact of climate change, we record landscapes the length and breadth of Scotland.

We capture images and information about buildings, monuments and landscapes through archaeological field surveys and aerial surveys.

We have also mapped evidence of historic land-use in Scotland, revealing how people have used Scotland’s landscapes over the centuries. This map reveals a variety of activities, ranging from prehistoric agriculture to modern day skiing resorts.

This information can help us to understand the scale and pace of change to our landscapes.

Recording the historic environment

Landscape will be a key part of how Scotland addresses the climate emergency. Well managed historic landscapes benefit people in a wide variety of ways, often referred to as ‘ecosystem services’. If our landscapes are managed well, these benefits can help us adapt to climate change.

Historic landscapes are also vulnerable to risks from climate change. As sea levels rise, temperatures increase, and we see more extreme weather, flooding and coastal erosion will increase and vegetation patterns will change.

Landscape elements that have survived well in the past may be less able to cope with changing weather patterns. This could affect vulnerable species and historic remains.

Coastal erosion is a major concern in Scotland. Currently, about 10% of our Archaeology Programme funding is spent on coastal erosion projects. We're working with Scottish Government, NatureScot, Scottish Environment Protection Agency and others on the Dynamic Coast project, supporting more sustainable coastal and terrestrial planning decisions in response to the changing climate.

Find out more about Dynamic Coast

New developments and changes in land management are often the biggest changes we see to our landscapes.

The Landscape Institute Scotland (LIS) has produced a document encouraging Scotland’s commitment to best practice in landscape planning and management. It supports the Scottish Government in delivering its Programme for Scotland.

We want to make sure that our landscapes can be understood and enjoyed by present and future generations, and we work with communities to explore what is important to them about their places.

Find out more on the LIS website

We give advice to land managers and agents to help protect our historic environment and landscapes to make sure that we don’t lose the things that make them special.

Planning

From housing to roads and wind farms to over-head power lines, our landscape is subject to a great deal of change. At HES, part of our role in planning is to help developers and decision-makers to understand what is special about our landscapes.

Our landscapes, buildings and monuments can make a big contribution to the quality and sustainability of new developments. The Scottish Government's policy on placemaking reflects this.

Other land management systems

Large-scale land management changes like forestry and farming can change the things that make our landscapes special and affect how we use and experience them.

Agricultural reform is currently underway in Scotland following EU exit. Scottish Government ambitions are to make Scotland a global leader in sustainable and regenerative agriculture through transforming the support given to farmers and crofters. In our role as key agency, we provide advice to help decision-makers consider the historic environment, in this process.

The Rural Support Plan (2026-31) details Scottish Ministers strategic outcomes for agriculture. It recognises the importance of considering the European Landscape Convention, and the historic environment, as reform progresses.