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GENERAL
A/CONF.151/26 (Vol. II)
13 August 1992
ORIGINAL: ENGLISH
REPORT OF THE UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON
ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT
(Rio de Janeiro, 3-14 June 1992)
Chapter 10
INTEGRATED APPROACH TO THE PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT OF
LAND RESOURCES
INTRODUCTION
10.1. Land is normally defined as a physical entity in terms of its
topography and spatial nature; a broader integrative view also includes
natural resources: the soils, minerals, water and biota that the land
comprises. These components are organized in ecosystems which provide
a variety of services essential to the maintenance of the integrity of
life-support systems and the productive capacity of the environment.
Land resources are used in ways that take advantage of all these
characteristics. Land is a finite resource, while the natural
resources it supports can vary over time and according to management
conditions and uses. Expanding human requirements and economic
activities are placing ever increasing pressures on land resources,
creating competition and conflicts and resulting in suboptimal use of
both land and land resources. If, in the future, human requirements
are to be met in a sustainable manner, it is now essential to resolve
these conflicts and move towards more effective and efficient use of
land and its natural resources. Integrated physical and land-use
planning and management is an eminently practical way to achieve this.
By examining all uses of land in an integrated manner, it makes it
possible to minimize conflicts, to make the most efficient trade-offs
and to link social and economic development with environmental
protection and enhancement, thus helping to achieve the objectives of
sustainable development. The essence of the integrated approach finds
expression in the coordination of the sectoral planning and management
activities concerned with the various aspects of land use and land
resources.
10.2. The present chapter consists of one programme area, the
integrated approach to the planning and management of land resources,
which deals with the reorganization and, where necessary, some
strengthening of the decision-making structure, including existing
policies, planning and management procedures and methods that can
assist in putting in place an integrated approach to land resources.
It does not deal with the operational aspects of planning and
management, which are more appropriately dealt with under the relevant
sectoral programmes. Since the programme deals with an important
cross-sectoral aspect of decision-making for sustainable development,
it is closely related to a number of other programmes that deal with
that issue directly.
PROGRAMME AREA
Integrated approach to the planning and management of
land resources
Basis for action
10.3. Land resources are used for a variety of purposes which interact
and may compete with one another; therefore, it is desirable to plan
and manage all uses in an integrated manner. Integration should take
place at two levels, considering, on the one hand, all environmental,
social and economic factors (including, for example, impacts of the
various economic and social sectors on the environment and natural
resources) and, on the other, all environmental and resource components
together (i.e., air, water, biota, land, geological and natural
resources). Integrated consideration facilitates appropriate choices
and trade-offs, thus maximizing sustainable productivity and use.
Opportunities to allocate land to different uses arise in the course of
major settlement or development projects or in a sequential fashion as
lands become available on the market. This in turn provides
opportunities to support traditional patterns of sustainable land
management or to assign protected status for conservation of biological
diversity or critical ecological services.
10.4. A number of techniques, frameworks and processes can be combined
to facilitate an integrated approach. They are the indispensable
support for the planning and management process, at the national and
local level, ecosystem or area levels and for the development of
specific plans of action. Many of its elements are already in place
but need to be more widely applied, further developed and strengthened.
This programme area is concerned primarily with providing a framework
that will coordinate decision-making; the content and operational
functions are therefore not included here but are dealt with in the
relevant sectoral programmes of Agenda 21.
Objectives
10.5. The broad objective is to facilitate allocation of land to the
uses that provide the greatest sustainable benefits and to promote the
transition to a sustainable and integrated management of land
resources. In doing so, environmental, social and economic issues
should be taken into consideration. Protected areas, private property
rights, the rights of indigenous people and their communities and other
local communities and the economic role of women in agriculture and
rural development, among other issues, should be taken into account.
In more specific terms, the objectives are as follows:
(a) To review and develop policies to support the best possible
use of land and the sustainable management of land resources, by not
later than 1996;
(b) To improve and strengthen planning, management and
evaluation systems for land and land resources, by not later than 2000;
(c) To strengthen institutions and coordinating mechanisms for
land and land resources, by not later than 1998;
(d) To create mechanisms to facilitate the active involvement
and participation of all concerned, particularly communities and people
at the local level, in decision-making on land use and management, by
not later than 1996.
Activities
(a) Management-related activities
Developing supportive policies and policy instruments
10.6. Governments at the appropriate level, with the support of
regional and international organizations, should ensure that policies
and policy instruments support the best possible land use and
sustainable management of land resources. Particular attention should
be given to the role of agricultural land. To do this, they should:
(a) Develop integrated goal-setting and policy formulation at
the national, regional and local levels that takes into account
environmental, social, demographic and economic issues;
(b) Develop policies that encourage sustainable land use and
management of land resources and take the land resource base,
demographic issues and the interests of the local population into
account;
(c) Review the regulatory framework, including laws,
regulations and enforcement procedures, in order to identify
improvements needed to support sustainable land use and management of
land resources and restricts the transfer of productive arable land to
other uses;
(d) Apply economic instruments and develop institutional
mechanisms and incentives to encourage the best possible land use and
sustainable management of land resources;
(e) Encourage the principle of delegating policy-making to the
lowest level of public authority consistent with effective action and
a locally driven approach.
Strengthening planning and management systems
10.7. Governments at the appropriate level, with the support of
regional and international organizations, should review and, if
appropiate, revise planning and management systems to facilitate an
integrated approach. To do this, they should:
(a) Adopt planning and management systems that facilitate the
integration of environmental components such as air, water, land and
other
natural resources, using landscape ecological planning (LANDEP) or
other approaches that focus on, for example, an ecosystem or a
watershed;
(b) Adopt strategic frameworks that allow the integration of
both developmental and environmental goals; examples of these
frameworks include sustainable livelihood systems, rural development,
the World Conservation Strategy/Caring for the Earth, primary
environmental care (PEC) and others;
(c) Establish a general framework for land-use and physical
planning within which specialized and more detailed sectoral plans
(e.g., for protected areas, agriculture, forests, human settlements,
rural development) can be developed; establish intersectoral
consultative bodies to streamline project planning and implementation;
(d) Strengthen management systems for land and natural
resources by including appropriate traditional and indigenous methods;
examples of these practices include pastoralism, Hema reserves
(traditional Islamic land reserves) and terraced agriculture;
(e) Examine and, if necessary, establish innovative and
flexible approaches to programme funding;
(f) Compile detailed land capability inventories to guide
sustainable land resources allocation, management and use at the
national and local levels.
Promoting application of appropriate tools for planning and
management
10.8. Governments at the appropriate level, with the support of
national and international organizations, should promote the
improvement, further development and widespread application of planning
and management tools that facilitate an integrated and sustainable
approach to land and resources. To do this, they should:
(a) Adopt improved systems for the interpretation and
integrated analysis of data on land use and land resources;
(b) Systematically apply techniques and procedures for
assessing the environmental, social and economic impacts, risks, costs
and benefits of specific actions;
(c) Analyse and test methods to include land and ecosystem
functions and land resources values in national accounts.
Raising awareness
10.9. Governments at the appropriate level, in collaboration with
national institutions and interest groups and with the support of
regional and international organizations, should launch
awareness-raising campaigns to alert and educate people on the
importance of integrated land and land resources management and the
role that individuals and social groups can play
in it. This should be accompanied by provision of the means to adopt
improved practices for land use and sustainable management.
Promoting public participation
10.10. Governments at the appropriate level, in collaboration with
national organizations and with the support of regional and
international organizations, should establish innovative procedures,
programmes, projects and services that facilitate and encourage the
active participation of those affected in the decision-making and
implementation process, especially of groups that have, hitherto, often
been excluded, such as women, youth, indigenous people and their
communities and other local communities.
(b) Data and information
Strengthening information systems
10.11. Governments at the appropriate level, in collaboration with
national institutions and the private sector and with the support of
regional and international organizations, should strengthen the
information systems necessary for making decisions and evaluating
future changes on land use and management. The needs of both men and
women should be taken into account. To do this, they should:
(a) Strengthen information, systematic observation and
assessment systems for environmental, economic and social data related
to land resources at the global, regional, national and local levels
and for land capability and land-use and management patterns;
(b) Strengthen coordination between existing sectoral data
systems on land and land resources and strengthen national capacity to
gather and assess data;
(c) Provide the appropriate technical information necessary for
informed decision-making on land use and management in an accessible
form to all sectors of the population, especially to local communities
and women;
(d) Support low-cost, community-managed systems for the
collection of comparable information on the status and processes of
change of land resources, including soils, forest cover, wildlife,
climate and other elements.
(c) International and regional coordination and cooperation
Establishing regional machinery
10.12. Governments at the appropriate level, with the support of
regional and international organizations, should strengthen regional
cooperation and exchange of information on land resources. To do this,
they should:
(a) Study and design regional policies to support programmes
for land-use and physical planning;
(b) Promote the development of land-use and physical plans in
the countries of the region;
(c) Design information systems and promote training;
(d) Exchange, through networks and other appropriate means,
information on experiences with the process and results of integrated
and participatory planning and management of land resources at the
national and local levels.
Means of implementation
(a) Financing and cost evaluation
10.13. The Conference secretariat has estimated the average total
annual cost (1993-2000) of implementing the activities of this
programme to be about $50 million from the international community on
grant or concessional terms. These are indicative and
order-of-magnitude estimates only and have not been reviewed by
Governments. Actual costs and financial terms, including any that are
non-concessional, will depend upon, inter alia, the specific strategies
and programmes Governments decide upon for implementation.
(b) Scientific and technological means
Enhancing scientific understanding of the land resources system
10.14. Governments at the appropriate level, in collaboration with the
national and international scientific community and with the support of
appropriate national and international organizations, should promote
and support research, tailored to local environments, on the land
resources system and the implications for sustainable development and
management practices. Priority should be given, as appropriate, to:
(a) Assessment of land potential capability and ecosystem
functions;
(b) Ecosystemic interactions and interactions between land
resources and social, economic and environmental systems;
(c) Developing indicators of sustainability for land resources,
taking into account environmental, economic, social, demographic,
cultural and political factors.
Testing research findings through pilot projects
10.15. Governments at the appropriate level, in collaboration with the
national and international scientific community and with the support of
the relevant international organizations, should research and test,
through pilot projects, the applicability of improved approaches to the
integrated planning
and management of land resources, including technical, social and
institutional factors.
(c) Human resource development
Enhancing education and training
10.16. Governments at the appropriate level, in collaboration with the
appropriate local authorities, non-governmental organizations and
international institutions, should promote the development of the human
resources that are required to plan and manage land and land resources
sustainably. This should be done by providing incentives for local
initiatives and by enhancing local management capacity, particularly of
women, through:
(a) Emphasizing interdisciplinary and integrative approaches in
the curricula of schools and technical, vocational and university
training;
(b) Training all relevant sectors concerned to deal with land
resources in an integrated and sustainable manner;
(c) Training communities, relevant extension services,
community-based groups and non-governmental organizations on land
management techniques and approaches applied successfully elsewhere.
(d) Capacity-building
Strengthening technological capacity
10.17. Governments at the appropriate level, in cooperation with other
Governments and with the support of relevant international
organizations, should promote focused and concerted efforts for
education and training and the transfer of techniques and technologies
that support the various aspects of the sustainable planning and
management process at the national, state/provincial and local levels.
Strengthening institutions
10.18. Governments at the appropriate level, with the support of
appropriate international organizations, should:
(a) Review and, where appropriate, revise the mandates of
institutions that deal with land and natural resources to include
explicitly the interdisciplinary integration of environmental, social
and economic issues;
(b) Strengthen coordinating mechanisms between institutions
that deal with land-use and resources management to facilitate
integration of sectoral concerns and strategies;
(c) Strengthen local decision-making capacity and improve
coordination with higher levels.
END OF CHAPTER 10
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