Achieving food security, mitigating and adapting to climate change, protecting
biodiversity while at the same time initiating economic growth,
protecting people from natural disasters, preventing and settling land
conflicts or initiating development in a drugs environment are just a few
of the many challenges rural areas in developing countries are currently
facing. Land use planning is one of the tools that can help to meet them
as it focuses on negotiating future land and resource uses by all relevant
stakeholders.
All human activities need a place to be realized. While the demand for
land increases, supply is fixed. Land, therefore, becomes increasingly
scarce. The result is an increase in the number of land conflicts and the
level of violence of these conflicts. If at an early stage, a consensus on the
land use can be negotiated by all conflicting parties and be approved by
the responsible official institution making it legally binding, conflicts can
be avoided