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
