Campaigners have joined force to raise "deep concerns" about the limited extent of powers in the proposed new Land Reform Bill.

The Bill is due to be introduced to the Scottish Parliament in the spring and seeks to address the concentration of monopoly land ownership in rural areas of Scotland.

However, a group of charities and other organisations have now signed an open letter to ministers calling for bolder action to be taken in tackling the highly concentrated pattern of ownership.

Currently, the proposed Bill will only cover estates of more than 3000 hectares - the equivalent to the island of Eigg - and so will apply to just a handful of estates.

The letter, led by the Wellbeing Economy Alliance Scotland (WEAll Scotland) and Community Land Scotland, calls for urgent reform of the way land is owned, used and managed in Scotland.

WEAll Scotland’s Policy and Engagement Lead, Dr Lukas Bunse, said: “We are deeply concerned that the current plans for the Land Reform Bill simply don’t go far enough and will fail to deliver for the people of Scotland.

"It is essential that the way Scotland’s land is managed enables people and communities to thrive."

Dr Bunse referred to the Scottish Government commitment to forming a Wellbeing Economy and added: "Changing the way that we own, use and manage land in Scotland is an essential step in achieving this goal.

"We must ensure that local communities are part of decision making and benefit from the land around them.

"We know that when land is managed in a way that prioritises dignity, nature, fairness, purpose and participation communities are empowered to sustainably develop their local area in line with their needs."

He added: "The upcoming Land Reform Bill presents us with an important opportunity to deliver on key government policy goals such as tackling poverty, delivering a just transition to net zero and building community wealth.

"In its current form, the Bill is not ambitious enough to make Scottish land a key driver of establishing a Wellbeing Economy in Scotland.

"We invite both Cabinet Secretaries to work with us to ensure that this Bill delivers all that it can for the people of Scotland.”

The open letter to the Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Neil Gray, and Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands, Mairi Gougeon, is backed by a variety of organisations, including the Community Woodlands Association, Scottish Rural Action, Social Enterprise Scotland and Community Energy Scotland.

It proposes using Wellbeing Economy principles to manage Scotland's land, suggesting that affordable land is available for housing and growing food, and that ownership of land and the wealth created from it are distributed fairly.

Dr Josh Doble, Policy Manager at Community Land Scotland, added: “Scotland has a huge opportunity in 2024 to deliver meaningful land reform which builds upon the proud tradition of community landownership in Scotland.

"We are fortunate to have an established and proven model of community land ownership which delivers on wellbeing economy principles and is already leading sustainable development around Scotland."

At the moment, 3% of the country's land is owned by the communities that live on it, a status quo, Dr Doble said, that "has to change".

He added: "We need land reform legislation which supports existing community landowners and which empowers other communities to take ownership of land and assets to drive forward community wealth building, to lead the just response to the nature crises and create resilient, circular economies in their local areas."