Making the best use of limited resources
Our basic needs of food, water, fuel, clothing and shelter must be met from the land, which is in limited supply. As population and aspirations increase, so land becomes an increasingly scarce resource.
Land must change to meet new demands yet change brings new conflicts between competing uses of the land and between the interests of individual land users and the common good. Land taken for towns and industry is no longer available for farming; likewise, the development of new farmland competes with forestry, water supplies and wildlife.
Planning to make the best use of land is not a new idea. Over the years, farmers have made plans season after season, deciding what to grow and where to grow it. Their decisions have been made according to their own needs, their knowledge of the land and the technology, labour and capital available. As the size of the area, the number of people involved and the complexity of the problems increase, so does the need for information and rigorous methods of analysis and planning.
However, land-use planning is not just farm planning on a different scale; it has a further dimension, namely the interest of the whole community.
Planning involves anticipation of the need for change as well as reactions to it. Its objectives are set by social or political imperatives and must take account of the existing situation. In many places, the existing situation cannot continue because the land itself is being degraded (Plate 2). Examples of unwise land use include: the clearance of forest on steeplands or on poor soils for which sustainable systems of farming have not been developed; overgrazing of pastures; and industrial, agricultural and urban activities that produce pollution. Degradation of land resources may be attributed to greed, ignorance, uncertainty or lack of an alternative but, essentially, it is a consequence of using land today without investing in tomorrow.