Scotland's historic battlefields remain at risk of modern development after proposals to conserve them stopped short of extending legal protection to the sites.

Historic Scotland, the government heritage agency, has suggested that the country adopts an “inventory of battlefields” to make sites of national significance a material consideration during the planning process.

However, the list will not provide local authorities with the power to block planning applications, as the policy will be non-statutory. Historians have condemned the failure to safeguard the sites as a ‘national disgrace'

The plans will be outlined today in a consultation paper published by Historic Scotland on behalf of ministers. The body says that battlefields, in addition to being a rich source of archaeological artefacts, are important to national identity and could help promote tourism.

The lack of protection has prompted furious criticism in recent years. Historians have condemned the failure to safeguard the sites as a national disgrace, and Stewart Maxwell, a senior Nationalist MP, described encroachment on battlefields as an act of “cultural vandalism”.

Among the high-profile sites threatened is the area in Falkirk where the battle of Bannockburn is believed to have taken place in 1314. Almost three years ago protesters forced Stirling Council to abandon plans to build two schools on the site where Robert the Bruce defeated the English.

The site was at the centre of another dispute last June when campaigners demonstrated against a company that had acquired quarrying rights to Gillies Hill which played a key role in the battle, sheltering the Scottish king's men before they made their final, decisive charge.

Last November the issue came to the fore again when a public inquiry was told that proposals to construct a power line in the Highlands could potentially ruin the location of a key Jacobite battle in 1715 at Sheriffmuir in Stirlingshire. The battle was judged a bloody draw, but the heavy losses that the much smaller Hanoverian army inflicted on Jacobite troops damaged the Stuart cause.

Tony Pollard, director of the Centre of Battlefield Archaeology at the University of Glasgow, which worked with Historic Scotland on the consultation document, agreed that the proposals had “limitations”, but, he said, they were a vital move.

“Scotland needs to accept responsibility for its cultural heritage and it is widely accepted that battlefields are important to understanding the history of the country,” he said.

Dr Pollard, who presented the BBC television series Two Men In A Trench, said that an inventory of sites was a step toward gaining more robust protection. A register of battlefields introduced in England in 1995 has led to a rethink of conservation laws, he said: “What's important about the inventory is that it makes battlefields significant, and that's the first stage.”

There is no specific legislation to preserve battlefields in Scotland although those where there are remains above ground are afforded partial protection as scheduled monuments. Others can be recognised withing the planning system if they are located within the boundaries of a national park.

Linda Fabiani, the Culture Minister, said she hoped that the document would prompt a debate over Scotland's key battle sites. She added: “The battles fought on Scottish soil are crucial to how we understand our collective history and identity.

“The intention of this consultation is to look at what can be done to ensure that they get proper recognition. It is an emotive subject that is important to people across Scotland and the world.”

A spokeswoman for Historic Scotland said “The proposal put forward in the consultation paper is that Scotland adopts a non-statutory inventory of battlefields that would mean that a battle site was a material consideration in the planning process.

“Suggestions put forward during the consultation will be duly considered. Final policy on battlefields lies with Scottish ministers, who will decide what level of protection is required and how this is to be managed.”