The chairman of a community land trust has said he believes new crofts will help to tackle historic population decline of Hebridean’s Western Isles.

Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries families were cleared from the land to make way for large scale farming and sporting estates.

Angus MacMillan, of Stòras Uibhist, has now said that a reform of crofting law will open up opportunities for new crofts.

He added that tackling absentee crofters and neglect of crofting townships would also lead to homes becoming available to new inhabitants.

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The Crofting Reform (Scotland) Act 2010 has measures designed to reduce absenteeism, the failure by a tenant to live on their croft or assign it to someone else.

Stòras Uibhist, which owns South Uist Estate, manages 93,000 acres (37,000 hectares) of land covering almost all the islands of Benbecula, Eriskay and South Uist.

Mr MacMillan said: "The Crofting Commission absentee initiative is painfully slow in producing results and freeing up crofts for a younger generation.

"But there are exciting opportunities for the creation of new crofts, especially under the 2010 Act, that will allow the devastating decline in our population to be reversed."

His comments came at the end of a four-day conference, Recovering from the Clearances, which was held in Balallan in Lewis.

Mr Millar added: "There is no reason why island communities cannot play an increasing role in managing their ferry services so they better meet the needs of island residents, or take over the management of the sea-bed and natural resources."

(H)