Sustainable, Ecologically Compatible Use of Land
Resources
Scarcity of water
resources or of raw materials is not the only factor limiting or
hampering development in many densely populated countries. More
often than not it is simply the scarcity of land. Hardly any
country in the world avails sufficient land to satisfy the
competing demand from agriculture, forestry, human settlements,
infrastructure but also the need for sustainable protection and
conservation of land based natural resources. In addition existing
land use patterns are often found incompatible with the
environmental conditions of the region.
Rational, ecologically
compatible and socially accepted use of land is an indispensable
prerequisite for sustainable development. Consequently, all
competing demands for land, its resources and its use have to be
co-ordinated in a well planned manner. Inevitable conflicts have to
be mediated and a compromise offering land for development by
simultaneously ensuring the ecological balance of the planning
region must be found.
A
Major Challenge
Ecologically
compatible land use management will be a major challenge for TA in
the coming decades. The relevance and urgency of this issue is
still widely underestimated. There is little awareness of costs and
impacts of uncontrolled land development, particularly in
developing countries. Consequently, many countries are faced by a
complete lack of an appropriate institutional set-up and the
required technical planning competence is in need of strengthening.
Spatial environmental planning is mostly limited to planning of
major cities or to few protected zones such as National Parks.
Existing projects and suggested measures lack the integrative
character required for any efficient ecological land use planning
and management. Piecemeal approaches such as promotion of GIS or
environmental information systems have to be incorporated and
broadened into initiation and establishment of comprehensive
spatial environmental planning system. The vast experience of
developed countries in this field may also help in the search for
appropriate solutions.
In recent years our
experts have been instrumental in supporting initiation and
establishment of an environmental spatial planing system in India
and China.
It has proved that
exemplary and pragmatic solutions can be developed and implemented
within a relative short time frame.
