Ecology & Environmental Planning
Land Use Planning
SPRING
Ecology and Environmental Planning
Multiple functions of land
• Land is the basis for many life support systems, through the production of biomass that provides food, fodder, fibre, fuel, timber and other biotic materials for human use, either directly or through animal husbandry including aquaculture and inland and coastal fishery (the production function). • Land is the basis of terrestrial biodiversity by providing the biological habitats and gene reserves for plants, animals and micro organisms, above and below the ground (the ecological, or biotic environmental function). • Land and its use are a source and sink of greenhouse gases and form a co-determinant of the global energy balance, reflection, absorption and transformation of radiative energy from the sun and the global hydrological cycle (the climate regulation function). • Land regulates the storage and flow of surface and groundwater resources, and influences their quality (the hydrological function). • Land is a storehouse of raw materials and minerals for human use (the storage function). • Land has a receptive, filtering, buffering and transforming function of hazardous compounds (the waste and pollution control function). • Land provides the physical basis for human settlements, industrial plants and social activities such as sports and recreation (the living space and recreation function). • Land is a medium to store and protect the evidence of the cultural history of mankind, and a source of information on past climatic conditions and past land uses (the archive or heritage function). • Land provides space for the transport of people, inputs and produce and for the movement of plants and animals between discrete areas of natural ecosystems (the connective space function).
SPRING
Ecology and Environmental Planning
Objectives of management
environmental
planning
&
• define & locate environmentally critical areas, where projects or activities might have negative impacts on the environment or whose natural conditions might constrain project implementation • to define and locate the areas most suitable for specific land uses or projects • to evaluate probable impacts (critical projects) of envisioned projects and activities • to define prerequisites, conditions, area and terms of reference for necessary detailed ecological surveys (further studies) required for specific projects to be undertaken in certain areas • to search for the best sites where specific technical mitigation measures should be undertaken to improve environmental conditions • to define areas whose natural resources need protection against unsuitable forms of land use in terms of protection and conservation (conservation and protection) • to propose specific institutional, technical or economic recommendations on specific projects and activities to assure that these might not pose a relevant negative impact on the environment and that these should be implemented in areas most suitable in terms of natural resources (technical and planning guidelines)
SPRING
Ecology and Environmental Planning
Sequences of Ecological Planning
Landscape Structure Analysis
Landscape Diagnosis:
Aspects: Capacity of Performance/ Potentials Carrying Capacity Land Use Suitability
+
Availability
- Natural Potentials - Natural Resources - Natural Risks
- Sensitivity - Buffering - Stress Resistance
- Priority of Use - Capacity - Multiple Capacity
- Multiple Use - Neighbourhood Effect - Territorial Classification
Landscape Evaluation
Landscape Forecast: Estimate and Evaluation of possible,
necessary, advantageous, risky... landscape changes
Landscape Planning and Project Programming
Landscape Management
Approach: conserve and stabilize direct the process technical/engineering
Landscape Protection
Landscape Control
Landscape Designing
SPRING
Ecology and Environmental Planning
The ten steps of Land Use Planning
Every land-use planning project is different. Objectives and local circumstances are extremely varied, so each plan will require a different treatment. However, a sequence of ten steps has been found useful as a guide. Each step represents a specific activity, or set of activities, and their outputs provide information for subsequent steps. Step 1. Establish goals and terms of reference. Ascertain the present situation; find out the needs of the people and of the government; decide on the land area to be covered; agree on the broad goals and specific objectives of the plan; settle the terms of reference for the plan. Step 2. Organise the work. Decide what needs to be done; identify the activities needed and select the planning team; draw up a schedule of activities and outputs; ensure that everyone who may be affected by the plan, or will contribute to it, is consulted. Step 3. Analyse the problems. Study the existing land-use situation, including in the field; talk to the land users and find out their needs and views; identify the problems and analyse their causes; identify constraints to change. Step 4. Identify opportunities for charge. Identify and draft a design for a range of land-use types that might achieve the goals of the plan; present these options for public discussion. Step 5. Evaluate land suitability. For each promising land-use type, establish the land requirements and match these with the properties of the landy to establish physical land suitability. Step 6. Appraise the alternatives: environmental, economic and social analysis. For each physically suitable combination of land use and land, assess the environmental, economic and social impacts, for the land users and for the community as a whole. List the consequences, favourable and unfavourable, of alternative courses of action. Step 7. Choose the best option. Hold public and executive discussions of the viable options and their consequences. Based on these discussions and the above appraisal, decide which changes in land use should be made or worked towards. Step 8. Prepare the land-use plan. Make allocations or recommendations of the selected land uses for the chosen areas of land; make plans for appropriate land management; plan how the selected improvements are to be brought about and how the plan is to be put into practice; draw up policy guidelines, prepare a budget and draft any necessary legislation; involve decision-makers, sectoral agencies and land users. Step 9. Implement the plan. Either directly within the planning process or, more likely, as a separate development project, put the plan into action; the planning team should work in conjunction with the implementing agencies. Step 10. Monitor and revise the plan. Monitor the progress of the plan towards its goals; modify or revise the plan in the light of experience.
SPRING
Ecology and Environmental Planning
In a still broader view, the steps can be grouped into the following logical sequence: Ø Identify the problems. Steps 1-3. Ø Determine what alternative solutions exist. Steps 4-6. Ø Decide which is the best alternative and prepare the plan. Steps 7-8. Ø Put the plan into action, see how it works and learn from this experience. Steps 9-10.
Steps in Land Use Planning: Inputs, Activities and Outputs
Source: FAO Development Series 1, Guidelines for land-use planning
SPRING
Ecology and Environmental Planning
Prescriptive and Indicative Zoning
The land use planning process also involves a spatial zoning of the resources across the natural land units. The zoning concept is used differently in rural agricultural land use planning as compared to peri-urban planning. In the latter case it is the end-product of the process, in the form of prescriptive use, the agreed and legally enforced allocation of peri-urban land for specific use, such as housing, industry, physical infrastructure, recreation, or supply of horticultural produce, accompanied by legal rules on land markets (prescriptive or allocative zoning). In rural planning with an agricultural production and/or environmental protection focus, zoning normally precedes the actual land use planning process. Such agro-ecological or indicative zoning concerns a subdivision of the rural lands on the basis of the physical and biological characteristics and qualities of the various natural land units (climate, soils, terrain forms, land cover and to a degree its water resources) as well as their prevailing socio-economic conditions. Together, they form the basis for the delineation of land Resource Management Domains (RMD), i.e. rural areas, where both agro-ecological and socio-economic conditions are so similar that one can expect that development or conservation oriented "intervention packages" can be successfully transferred from one site to another.
The Concept of Land Resource Management Domains (RDM)
and their spatial relationship with AEZ, SOTER, TLO units and infra-structural conditions, an example
SPRING
Ecology and Environmental Planning
Land evaluation
Ø Ø Ø Ø Ø Ø assessment of the inherent land qualities of the identified natural land units, their constraints and opportunities, identification and characterisation of present forms of land cover and land use, identification of prospective land utilisation types or production systems, identification of the bio-physical and socio-economic requirements of the identified land utilisation types, matching of the inherent land requirements of the utilisation types under consideration, the formulation of recommended land uses - or non-uses - in order of decreasing appropriateness, per land unit.
Nature of Data and Information
(FAO - The Future of Our Land, 1999) Land resource data Climate Landforms and soils Land cover Water resources Land use related data Present land use and characteristics Selected physiological characteristics (as determining ecological requirements) Land utilisation types (LUTs) and production systems (present and potential) Ecological requirements of LTUs, production systems, land use Population (including age and gender distribution, stakeholder) Living conditions (including workload, cultural aspects, traditions, etc.) Access to markets Costs of production and product prices Socio - economics of communities Relevant government policy documents, laws and regulations related to land Present system of land allocation Land tenure information Traditional ownership and user rights Involved institutions and their mandates, resources and infrastructure Links between institutions Support services (extension, etc.) Infrastructure, accessibility
Social-economic data
Legal data and information
Institutional information General data and information
SPRING
Ecology and Environmental Planning
Data Requirements on Land Resources for Land Evaluation
Climatic Data Land Data
For each climatic station Ø location (co-ordinates) and elevation Ø precipitation Ø maximum daily temperature Ø minimum daily temperature Ø relative proportions of sunshine and cloud cover by time period Ø relative humidity Ø wind speed Ø climatic hazards
For each land mapping unit Ø proportions of component land management units Ø area Ø landform or landscape unit
For each land type Ø land element Ø slope Ø land cover (vegetation) or present land use Ø surface rocks and stones Ø rootable soil depth Ø soil texture (including stones and gravel) Ø soil drainage class Ø soil horizons and depth ranges Ø soil structure and consistence Ø organic carbon content (topsoil) Ø available phosphorus (topsoil) Ø Exchangeable cations, cation exchange capacity and base saturation Ø pH (acidity, alkalinity) Ø salinity
Note: The time period over which the data are collected depends on the purpose and level of detail of the land-use plan. Where possible, rainfall data should be collected for a historical sequence of years, particularly in semi-arid areas with a high of variation in annual totals.
Land – Use Related Data Information
Definition of Land Utilisation Type (LUT) A Land Utilisation Type (LUT) is a use of land defined in terms of a product, or products, the inputs and operations required to produce these products, and the socio-economic setting in which production is carried out. (FAO, 1976) Definition Production System A Production System describes a series of activities (the management system) carried out to produce a defined set of commodities or benefits (produce). (FAO, 1996)
SPRING
Ecology and Environmental Planning
Example of a Land Utilisation Type Definition
Attribute
Produce and Production
Low Inputs
Intermediate Inputs
High Inputs
Market Orientation
Capital Intensity
Labour Intensity
Power Source
Technology
Infrastructure
Landholding Income level
Rainfed cultivation of barley, maize, oat, pearl, millet, dryland rice, wetland rice, sorghum, wheat, cowpea, green gram, groundnut, Phaseolus bean, pigeon pea, soybean, cassava, sweet potato. white potato, banana, palm oil and sugar cane. Sole and multiple cropping of crops only in appropriate cropping patterns and rotations Subsistence Subsistence Commercial productions production plus production commercial sale of surplus Low Intermediate with High credit on accessible terms High, including Medium, including Low, family labour uncosted family uncosted family costed if used labour labour Manual labor with Manual labor with Complete hand tools hand tools and/or mechanisation animal traction, with improved implements; some mechanisation Traditional cultivars. Improved cultivars High-yielding No fertilizer or as available. cultivars including chemical pest, Appropriate hybrids. Optimum disease and weed extension packages fertilizer application. control. Fallow including some Chemical pest, periods. Minimum fertilizer application disease and weed conservation and some chemical control. Full measures. pest, disease and conservation weed control. Some measures. fallow periods and some conservation measures. Market accessibility Some market Market accessibility not necessary. accessibility essential. High level Inadequate advisory necessary with of advisory services services. access to and application of demonstration plots research findings. and services. Small, fragmented Small, sometimes Large, consolidated fragmented Low Moderate High
Source: Agro-ecological assessment for national planning: the example of Kenya. FAO. 1993b
SPRING
Ecology and Environmental Planning
Example of a Production System
Production System: Smallholder sorghum production Product Sorghum (c.v. Segaolane). Grain - maximum attainable yield 2.000 kg/ha, typical yields 500-1.000 kg/ha. Residues (maximum attainable yield 8.000 kg dry matter/ha). Single ploughing, followed by disk harrowing, between August and October. Pair of draught oxen used. Mechanical seeder drawn by pair of oxen, on first rainfall >30 mm during period 1 December - 20 February. Manual. 40 days after planting. Nil. Manual, after crop matures (120 days after planting). Family labour. Moderate requirement at peak periods. Access to 2 oxen needed at critical period for planting. Holding size 2-5 ha. Usufruct conferred by Land Board. Crop failure anticipated 1 year in 10 (no planting opportunity due to low rainfall).
Land Preparation
Planting
Weeding Fertiliser Harvesting Labour Animal Power Land Tenure Risks
Socio-economic Data and Information Requirements
Ø Farm household data Ø Legal and tenure aspects Ø Infrastructure (roads, quality, etc.) Ø Access to markets, price development, etc. Ø Supporting services (extension service, etc.) Ø Intervening agencies (NGOs, GOs, etc.) Ø Population (age, growth rate, ethnic composition, gender distribution, etc.)<
SPRING
Ecology and Environmental Planning
Example for a land evaluation sheet (needs to be adapted to the region and purpose....)
Observer:
Date:
Site Number:
Location
Latitude/Longitude:
District: Altitude:
Climate
N°. of dry months (>60mm):
Annual Temperature:
Annual Rainfall:
Relief
Microrelief:
Angle: Notes
Shape:
Parent Material (geological formation):
Soils
Rootable depth (cm):
Stoniness or Boulders: Annual period of waterlogging: Depth to water table
Texture of uppermost 30cm: Evidence of gleying in topsoil:
Vegetation/Landuse ο intense cultivation ο moderate cultivation ο limited cultivation ο swamp rice cultivation ο others (specify.....)
ο ο ο ο
intensive grazing/pasture Extensive pasture Market gardening Perennial crops
ο ο ο ο
badlands tree plantations used forests (logging...) not used natural forests
Evidence of Erosion or other Degradation:
Site Classification: Notes: SPRING
Land Use Potential:
Ecology and Environmental Planning
Information Needs before Conducting a Survey for Regional Planning
(such as: land use planning, waste disposal, forest management, water management, wildlife protection, recreation planning, irrigation planning...)
1. Do you want to conduct regional studies (50-250 km), a specialised (local) study, or do you want to work on a scale even larger than 250 km? If so, what is a typical area covered? 4 We are engaged in geotechnical mapping. 50 km² or less would be appropriate for our purpose. 4 50 km² - 500 km² 4 1400 km² 4 100 - 150 km² according to the size of the regional council or region of interest 4 other.............................(specify!) 2. What is the size of the smallest survey area that you would use (for example: for vegetation it may be approximately ¼ acre and less)? 4 4 4 4 4 4 1 m² ½ acre 1 acre 20 acres 1 km² according to survey scale 1:10000 = 1 ha; 1: 25000 = 6,25 ha; 1:50000 = 25 ha
4. What is your area of concentration (regional recreation planning, water quality analysis, forest management....)? 4 geotechnical mapping, sedimentary processes 4 impact analysis, regional planning, recreation planning, urban open space planning 4 converting agricultural land into built-up areas 4 urban expansion-processes and control (rural-agricultural conservation), land settlement 4 soil evaluation and potential, crop suitability, agro-climatology, drainage, pasture vegetation, other... 5. Do you use consultants and/or regional maps of other disciplines in your analysis? If so, what disciplines? 4 topographical, hydrographical, soil, geological, vegetation, ecological maps 4 consultants for special disciplines, psychologists, external moderators, animateurs, other ... 4 cadastral maps 4 co-operation with Ministries, Departments, other.... 6. Do you use any of the following natural resource data? 4 4 4 4 4 topography slope topography orientation vegetation type potential vegetation water (if so, state type: fish ponds, wells, wadis, creeks, drainage systems ...) 4 wildlife type 4 wildlife quality
3. In what form do you want the initial and subsequent data (topography maps, digitised thematic maps, acetate overlays, etc.)? 4 4 4 4 generally topography maps will do topography maps, air photographs - aerial overlays "not clear" topography maps, digitised thematic maps, acetate overlays, field description data, vegetation transects, all kind of field measuring stations data, soil laboratory analysis....
SPRING
Ecology and Environmental Planning
4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4
unique resources geology - surface ecology - subsurface soils groundwater data other...........................................(specify) present ownership distance from present development present use possible future use existing legislation and financing project demand cost of land present property taxation other as urban expansion, rainwater storage ............(specify)
9. What land use or natural resource data not presently obtainable would you like to see available? 4 4 4 4 cooperative information about proposed development plans climatic maps environmental damages and hazards other........................................................(specify)
7. What existing cultural conditions are most important to your needs?
10. What are your needs for remote sensing inputs? 4 base for interpretation of data, for example for detecting diseases within vegetation types as classified by agricultural and forest sciences 4 interpretation of water quality, turbidity, shoreline movements 4 repetitive coverage for detection of changes 4 other......................................................(specify) 11. Over the next 10 years, in what way do you see remote sensing assisting in your work? 4 indication for site selection in recreation planning, for power plants, agricultural activities 4 depends on Landsat images 4 observing changes in land use over time (urban and rural) 4 integration of local and regional master plans 4 supporting data for opening of new lands (rural settlement planning) 4 conventional use of low-altitude scanners and satellites 4 information with high resolution pattern recognition in aerial images 4 other............................................................(specify)
8. Generally, there are several elements considered important as guides for the allocation of activities. The factors include type of activity, distance from other activities and settlements, availability and diversity. Are there other factors that you consider important? 4 generally of no interest, none 4 those helping interpretation and prediction of mutual existing or expected influences of activities (impact hazards) 4 local climate 4 screening effects 4 institutional barriers (governmental demand and supply) 4 institutional organisation 4 types of settlements 4 accessibility 4 other........................................................(specify)
SPRING
Ecology and Environmental Planning
The Carrying Capacity
“Ecological Footprint”
The population that can be supported indefinitely by an ecosystem without destroying that ecosystem An environment’s carrying capacity is its maximum persistently supportable load What does Carrying Capacity describe? The Carrying Capacity represents the point of balance between reproduction potential and environmental resistance, that is the maximum population of a species that a specific ecosystem can support indefinitely without deterioration of the character and quality of the resource, i.e. vegetation or soil.
SPRING
Ecology and Environmental Planning