Today, persistent population growth, climate change, erosion and desertification
as well as urbanization increase the pressure on fertile land
and other natural resources. At the same time, competition for limited
available agricultural areas increases due to growing demand on national
and international markets for food, fodder, raw material and biomass for
industrial and energy use. The extreme increase of land sales and land
leases in developing countries illustrates that the global competition for
scarce land resources has gained a new dimension. State actors and private
investors from developed countries and newly industrialized countries
capture huge agricultural areas – generally with access to ample water – in
developing countries through purchase or long-term leases to grow food,
agro-fuel or other cash crops for export. In general, quick benefits from
large investments in industries, mining, agro-industries etc. for the sake
of increasing GDPs create pressure to rural land uses with less economic
contributions leading to an often irreversible conversion of traditional
land uses. In addition, agricultural funds investing in agricultural lands
have become a current trend product in financial markets, thus participating
in the rising value of land, which was already valuable due to its
growing scarcity. The scarce resource land increasingly becomes a venture.
Accordingly, there is a high demand for concepts and tools that help find
a balance among the interests of all stakeholders. Land use planning has
proven to be such an approach