Access to the countryside in Scotland is about to go through a revolution that will give people wider rights than in most European countries and could set a radical precedent for the future in the rest of the United Kingdom.

While people in England and Wales will soon have legal right of access to open and uncultivated land - the so-called right to roam - the Scots are looking forward to being granted access everywhere, including cultivated farmland, forests, riverbanks and the coast.

A draft bill proposing these rights will be introduced to the Scottish Parliament in the next few weeks, and the backing of the Executive - a Labour-Liberal coalition - and the Scottish National Party makes it virtually certain it will become law.

What is perhaps most surprising is that the main representatives of land owners support the legislation, which is based on the unanimous recommendations of an Access Forum which brought relevant bodies together and deliberated for 18 months.

The legislation creates a mirror-image of the situation in England and Wales, where there is no access to private land unless a right of way is established or conceded. In Scotland, it's expected that that access will be limited only for reasons of privacy and environ mental protection, and the challenge will be to manage it successfully.

A vital part of the new bill will require local councils to establish and maintain a "core network" of paths, especially near towns and cities in the Lowlands, where it is felt that comparatively few routes for walking, cycling and riding are available.

"The effect is likely to be a huge change in attitude," says Dave Morris, director of the Ramblers' Association Scotland. "Users will be a lot more confident once they have this right to go anywhere, providing they don't do any damage, while landowners will have the responsibility of accepting that freedom and welcoming people.

"It shouldn't be too difficult - the Duke of Buccleuch is the biggest landowner in Scotland and he's been operating on that basis for years.

"People coming to Scotland with loads of money to buy up land will be told that people will have access to that land and this is something they'll have to deal with."

Meanwhile, pressure groups in England and Wales are looking beyond the imminent "right to roam" legislation and preparing to push for right of access to riverbanks and woodland as well. Many recognise, however, that access to the heavily-cultivated farmland in parts of England might prove more difficult.