Application of Land Use Planning

A.   Land Use Planning as a Tool for FOOD SECURITY

 

Land use planning can contribute to improving the availability of food

within a defined region at local or national level in a number of ways:

               

o   Through land use planning, areas for food production can be defined,

zoned and protected from being converted into construction land;

o   Through the integration of rules regulating access to land and/or

improving tenure security, food production can be improved as farmers

will invest in long-term measures to improve the soil or start more

expensive cultivations that provide higher yields in the long-run;

 

o   Land use planning in combination with market analysis and infrastructure

planning can improve access to food.

 

 

B.   Land Use Planning: a Tool for Disaster Risk Management

 

·         Land use planning is a very important instrument in disaster risk management. By determining land uses, it affects both the vulnerability of the local population and infrastructure as well as potential hazards, and can accordingly be used to minimize disaster risk. The goal of land use planning for disaster risk management is to achieve a utilization of land and natural resources which is adapted to local conditions and needs and takes into account disaster risks.

 

·         Land use planning can significantly contribute to preventing new hazards, such as landslides and flooding, which are frequently caused by inappropriate land use. Land use planning can also reduce the vulnerability of people and infrastructure by identifying safe locations for settlements and constructions and by defining and applying adequate building standards during plan implementation. Thus, considering disaster risks in land use planning can save human lives and material as well as reduce economic losses. It contributes to sustainable development and poverty reduction.

 

 

C.   Land Use Planning: a Tool for Adaptation to and Mitigation of Climate Change

 

a) LUP for Adaptation

Adaptation consists of assessing vulnerabilities and impacts related to

climate change, identifying and prioritizing adaptation options, often

from a cross-sectoral perspective, and governing the implementation of

adaptation. Impacts and adaptation needs are very different from location

to location; therefore, land use planning has an important role to play in

adaptation to climate change.

 

b) LUP for Mitigation

Land use planning can be used to reduce deforestation and forest degradation

by limiting agricultural expansion, conversion of forests to pasturelands,

infrastructure development, destructive logging, fires etc. Land use

planning can also be used to identify areas for carbon sequestration (as an

environmental service for which farmers could receive a payment), e.g.

through afforestation or for the introduction of agroforestry. An example

is the transformation of coffee monocultures into coffee agroforestry

plantations in which the carbon in biomass and litter can be multiplied by

2.5 through the plantation/cultivation of shade trees. Another way of land

use planning to contribute to mitigation of climate change is the identification

of suitable sites for wind mill parks or for the production of solar

energy.

 

 

Reference:

 

          Land Use Tools, Concepts and Applications, GIZ, 2012