The Future of the land

With the increasing awareness of the fragility of the earth's resources, and the rising demands of a growing and diverse population, land use planning is evolving into a multi-disciplinary process of continuous interaction with different land users and constant readjustment to accommodate their divergent needs. It is more critical than ever to plan for the use of land resources, using the application of indigenous knowledge and the rapidly developing capabilities of information technology. The Future of the Land provides an overview of the concepts and methodologies of land evaluation and the formulation of land use options and scenarios. The book is structured around issues of land use planning methodology at four different scales, these being supranational, national, regional and farm. A total of seven case studies representing these four different scales are presented, illustrating common features of the agroclimatic and economic zones of the world. An essential feature of each study is the presentation of different perspectives of land use planning including those of the land users, scientists and decision-makers. This approach illustrates the requirements and interests of different parties, which may serve as a basis for negotiation. This book shows that despite the great technical advances of recent years, and our increased knowledge of the resource base, the challenges of land use planning are bewildering. The mobilisation and integration of knowledge for the development of land use options is an essential part of the solution.