Shetland croft 2,000th to be registered by RoS

It joins the 2,000th common grazing, a shared area of community land in Assynt, also registered this week.

Introduced in 2012, the Crofting Register is the first official register to give crofters legal certainty over their crofts.

Crofting Minister Aileen McLeod said: “The Scottish government is doing all that it can to support a vibrant future for crofting and this fantastic milestone registration is great news for the sector.

“Crofting is vital to rural communities, economy and the environment, particularly in Scotland’s remote and fragile areas.

“Last year it generated an estimated revenue of almost £86 million, and I hope that more of our 18,000 crofters will be encouraged to register, in order to safeguard the industry for future generations.”

Janet Egdell, operations director at RoS, said: “There are around 18,000 crofts in Scotland, so reaching the 2,000th registration in such a short timeframe is a remarkable achievement, especially as it comes less than a year after we registered the 1,000th croft.

“I’m particularly pleased to see how many neighbours and townships are working together to facilitate the registration of their land.”

Crofting Commission chief executive, Catriona Maclean, said: “This is another significant milestone for the Crofting Register. To have reached 2,000 registered crofts and 200 registered common grazings is a notable achievement in the safeguarding of crofting for generations to come. The Commission continues to work closely with RoS, crofters and grazings committees to ensure the registration process is as smooth as possible.”