The Scottish Government has published its strategy to increase the amount of land in community ownership.

The overall aim of the plan is deliver one million acres of land to communities by 2020.

The one million acre short life working group recommends a range of proposals to deliver this target, including:

• Stimulate demand for community owned land through raising awareness.

• Build capacity of communities to take land ownership projects forward.

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• Improve access to support services and develop a network of support providers.

• Address issues around the availability of land and barriers to the supply of land.

A total of 480,000 acres of land was identified as already being in community ownership.

This figure has been increased to 500,000 due to the acquisition of land by The Pairc Trust.

Environment Minister Aileen McLeod welcomed the reports findings, which she said has the "potential to transform the fortunes of communities across the country".

"I would like to thank the group for all their hard work and I look forward to considering the recommendations in this report alongside current land reform legislation to help ensure we empower communities with practical powers as well as support sustainability," she said.

The view the report, visit here.

(LM/MH)