Scotland's Landscape Monitoring Programme - Landscape Indicator

Updated: 2026

This indicator monitors changes in public attitudes towards Scotland’s national landscape since 2013.  Landscapes are important to people for many reasons.  People care about the quality of the landscapes around them, as well as the protected or ‘special places’ (for example National Scenic Areas, National Parks, designed landscapes, and cultural sites) for which Scotland is renowned. 

Accordingly, evidence on the public’s perceptions of Scotland’s landscapes is valuable.  It helps to determine how, or if, opinions are changing; which aspects are changing; and how people perceive and respond to landscape change.  This indicator looks at attitudes to landscape change across Scotland generally.  There is a complementary indicator on the Public Perception of Local Landscape (LPP2), available on our Scotland's Landscape Monitoring Programme page.

Evidence 

Data on public attitudes toward the landscape and natural heritage were collected online in 2023 by the NatureScot Opinion Survey (NOS).  Previously, the information was collected face-to-face by the Scotland’s People and Nature Survey (SPANS) in 2015 and the online Scottish Nature Omnibus survey (SNO) in 2019.  Due to differences in the survey methodologies (face-to-face and online) the SPANS survey should not be regarded as being directly comparable with SNO and NOS survey data.  Given that the SNO and NOS surveys were both carried out online they are more directly comparable.

Assessment

The findings in the two charts below are from the November 2023 NatureScot Opinion Survey. The 2023 survey contained two new statements.  One relates to climate change and the other to place and identity.  Respondents were asked to what extent they agreed or disagreed with the following statements regarding Scotland’s landscapes:

Respondents were asked to think specifically about wind farms (both onshore and offshore wind farms). They were asked to what extent they agreed or disagreed with the following statements:

*Medium/High confidence in the interpretation of the data given the difference in survey methods between 2015 SPANS (carried out face to face) and the 2019 SNO and 2023 NOS (carried out online).

The tables in Annex 1 (below) show the percentage of respondents against the different types of responses to the landscape statements asked for survey years 2015, 2019 and 2023.  The tables show by far the most respondents agreed or agreed strongly in 2023 with the statement ‘Scotland’s areas of wildland should be protected’ (93% compared to 92% in 2015) and with ‘Scotland’s landscapes make an important contribution to the economy’ (90%, which was the same in 2015).

In 2023, almost two thirds of people (64%) agreed that Scotland’s finest landscapes were well looked after, which is a decrease of 8% compared to the 2015 survey (72%) but an increase of 6% compared to the 2019 survey (58%).  Three quarters (76%) agreed in 2023 that more effort is needed to improve the landscape in and around the country’s towns and cities.  This is a slight increase of 3% from the 2015 survey (73%) and 2% in the 2019 survey (74%). Between 2015 and 2023 there was a slight decrease in the percentage of people who agreed that Scotland’s landscapes are changing for the better (from 38% to 34%) and that new development in the countryside is having a positive impact on Scotland’s landscapes (from 39% to 35%).  Yet, there was a slight increase in the percentage of people agreeing with both these statements between the 2019 and 2023 surveys.

The 2023 survey contained two new statements relating to place and identity and the other to climate change.  Three quarters of respondents (76%) agreed that Scotland’s landscapes were important for their sense of place and identity.  Three fifths of people (62%) also agreed that Scotland’s landscapes are changing due to climate change.

Regarding wind farms, more respondents in 2023 than 2015 agreed that windfarms in Scotland are generally well-located and designed (58% in 2023 compared to 47% in 2015); that the landscape close to where they live could accommodate more windfarms (43% in 2023 compared to 29% in 2015); and that the landscape in the places they like to visit could accommodate more windfarms (40% in 2023 compared to 34% in 2015).  The charts in Annex 2 present the response data relating to wind farms from Table 1d in Annex 1.  Those typically agreeing more strongly to each of the statements were more likely to be younger people, those with children and people from higher social groups, as well as those who had recently visited a National Nature Reserve or Scotland’s Great Trails.  The surveys do not provide respondents’ locational information so it cannot be determined which landscapes the attitudes to wind farms refer to.   The Scottish Household Survey in 2022 found an increase in the proportion of adults viewing climate change as an immediate and urgent problem, up from 68% in 2019 to 74% in 2022.  By age group, the largest increases were amongst those aged 25-34.

Source data and updates

Source data from NatureScot Opinion Survey 2023, with previous surveys in 2015 and 2019.

The baseline for the LPP1 Public Perception of Scotland’s Landscape indicator, published in 2016, used data from the April 2015 Scottish Opinion Survey.

The intention is to review the indicator on a five-year cycle, though this may be brought forward if needed to inform policy.

UK indicators

There is no directly comparable UK indicator.

References

NatureScot Research Report 1357 - NatureScot opinion survey 2023
NatureScot Research Report 1198 - The Scottish Nature Omnibus 2019
The Scottish Household Survey 2022
Office for National Statistics