Reforesting Scotland doesn’t need multimillionaires, say campaigners

Far Ralia estate, Newtonmore, Cairngorms. NatureScot argues that private investment could plant 185,000 hectares of new woodland to store about 28m tonnes of CO2. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian

Land reform campaigners have challenged claims that Scotland has to rely on multimillionaires spending up to £2bn on new forests and peatlands to rescue the country from the climate crisis.

An analysis by Community Land Scotland accuses NatureScot, the conservation agency, of using crude and unsubstantiated figures to call for a big increase in private funding to reforest the Highlands and uplands.