Managing land use

Managing a diverse pattern of land use systems to ensure the stability of human systems or sustainable transitions in land use.

Land use management is vital on the regional scale to achieve food security through prudent land management of agro-ecosystems. Land use/cover changes affect the hydrological cycle influencing how precipitation is intercepted, evapo-transpired and retained in soils. This in turn determines the amount and speed of runoff. Land cover change also influences local soil erosion and nutrient losses. At the scal eof river basins, it determines water availability and the intensity and frequency of flooding. In addition, ecosystems and land in general store waste materials and provide critically important purification function. The ability to provide these services is threatened by pollution and land degradation due to inappropriate land use or overexploitation that transgresses capacity thresholds.

This strategy features in the framework of Agenda 21 as formulated at UNCED (Rio de Janeiro, 1992), now coordinated by the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development and implemented through national and local authorities. Agenda 21 recommends selecting combinations of land uses and production systems appropriate to land units through multiple goal optimization procedures, and strengthening delivery systems. Agenda 21 also recommends the development of fiscal incentives and land-use control measures, including land-use planning solutions, for a more rational and environmentally sound use of limited land resources.

1. Managing land
2. Facilitating
3. Combining

1. Using environmentally sound land-use practices
2. Using economic instruments to encourage sustainable use of land resources
3. Undertaking research on land use
4. Resolving competing land use requirements
5. Releasing additional usable land
6. Promoting multifunctional agriculture
7. Managing agricultural lands
8. Maintaining databases on agricultural land use
9. Land use planning
10. Integrating use of land resources
11. Integrating urban land use and transportation planning
12. Instituting integrated management of water catchments
13. Initiating common land use
14. Incorporating water resource development into land-use plans
15. Improving land use practices to prevent silting of lakes
16. Improving land use practices to prevent land degradation and erosion
17. Improving analysis of data on land use
18. Improving ability to use land for agricultural purposes
19. Exploring non-traditional land use
20. Establishing land use classifications
21. Ensuring sustainable agricultural development
22. Ensuring land users implement improved land use measures
23. Encouraging environmentally sound land use practices
24. Diversifying land use
25. Disseminating land use information
26. Developing profitable public land use practices
27. Designing community land use
28. Correcting defective land use planning
29. Coordinating land development
30. Controlling public land use
31. Assessing current land situation
32. Assessing costs and financing to ensure sustainable land use planning and management
33. Applying land use policies to protect environmentally sensitive areas

1. Preventing pollution
2. Minimizing soil erosion
3. Improving food production systems
4. Constructing check dams

1. Researching land use
2. Increasing awareness for need to stabilize resource consumption
3. Developing sustainable land use policy
4. Developing sustainability indicators for land resources
5. Developing ortho-photography landbases
6. Creating community land trust
7. Analysing land cover change

1. Depleting soils

1. Developing land

1. Unused
2. Unsustainable
3. Unproductivity
4. Underuse
5. Underproduction
6. Overproduction
7. Limitedness
8. Land
9. Inappropriateness
10. Abuse