The evaluation carried out so far has been essentially in terms of physical
suitability. An assessment has been made of whether different kinds of land
use can be undertaken on a sustained basis.
In Step 6, the effects of each alternative use are appraised in environmental,
economic and social terms.
Obviously, these aspects have not been ignored: they generally guided the
identification of promising options at Step 4. Now, those that passed this first
test are formally appraised against the selected criteria. In this step, it is
essential to examine land-use proposals from the standpoint of the
capabilities and incentives of individual land users.