The change to the law aims to make it easier for people to access public land for low-impact, sustainable hutting in future.

Huts are simple homes where people can “reconnect with nature” and experience the land off-grid. Reforesting Scotland’s 1000 Huts Campaign states that a culture of recreational hut use would “benefit people greatly”, including by bringing people close to nature, cultivating practical skills in low-carbon living, fostering community, and offering benefits for health and wellbeing.

With hutting depending on access to land for huts, campaigners from Reforesting Scotland and the Scottish Rewilding Alliance had called on the government to publish a draft lease for hutters on public land.

The successful campaign for a legal change was inspired by a pilot project at Carnock in southwest Fife, which has seen a pioneering lease enable a group of hutters to build 12 huts on the national forest estate.

Al Whitworth, director of Reforesting Scotland, said: “This is another success for our ongoing 1000 Huts Campaign, and we’re delighted that the Scottish Government has again recognised the benefits of making a model lease available for hutting on public land. We hope this will help unlock more sites where hutters can enjoy nature protected by a strong legal agreement.”

Steve Micklewright, co-convenor of the Scottish Rewilding Alliance and chief executive of Trees for Life, said: “It’s great to see the Scottish Government supporting the need for a model lease for hutting in the new Land Reform Bill. As well as restoring nature in a big way, rewilding is about people and restoring our relationship with the land. Hutting offers a fantastic way for more people to share in, and care for, Scotland’s landscapes. This is a win for people-led rewilding.”

The successful changes to the bill were proposed in Holyrood by Ariane Burgess, Scottish Greens MSP for the Highlands and Islands.

“Opening up more public land for hutting will in turn create all sorts of opportunities for people to get closer to nature and develop practical skills, and will foster community and co-operation. I’m really pleased to see the Scottish Government recognising the importance of hutting in the new Land Reform Bill by supporting my proposed amendment. This positive result should benefit people for years to come,” she said.

Rewilding is the large-scale restoration of nature to a state where it can “look after itself”, focusing on restoring natural processes and, where appropriate, reintroducing missing species.