Two bids to take moorland in the Scottish Borders and Dumfries and Galloway into community ownership has reached a 'major milestone'.
The Langholm Initiative and Newcastleton and District Community Trust (NDCT) are being given £1.85m to purchase land owned by Buccleuch, which manages over 27,0000 acres of Scottish land.
It is part of the Scottish Land Fund - funded by the Scottish government - which has awarded more than £3.6 million to community groups and projects to secure land.
The NDCT, awarded £850,000, can now proceed with the purchase of 750 acres of land known as Holm Hill from Buccleuch’s Borders Estate.
An offer of £1 million has also been made to the Langholm Initiative, a charity which wants to buy 10,500 acres of land including part of Langholm Moor.
They plan to create a vast new nature reserve as well as creating small-scale renewable energy projects.
The Langholm Initiative is currently embarking on a crowdfunding appeal to enable the community buyout to become reality.
Buccleuch said it was 'delighted' that both groups had been successful in their applications and paid tribute to the work that had progressed them to this stage.
Benny Higgins, executive chairman at Buccleuch, said: “When we announced in May last year that we wanted to sell property on the Borders Estate, Buccleuch was fully committed to engaging with local communities to assess their appetite for purchasing the land.
"Today’s announcement of funding for both NDCT and the Langholm Initiative is a major milestone for that process.
“Both groups have different ideas of what they want to achieve but have shared a tenacity and willingness to cooperate that has made the discussions an enjoyable process."
Steve Hartley, chair of the NDCT, said community ownership of the land would give the area a 'bigger, brighter and more sustainable future'.
"This will continue to include farming, but the community also wants to develop new leisure and renewable sectors spreading the benefits of community ownership to everyone who lives here."
