Land, according to Rossiter (1996), is defined as the area of the earth’s surface characterised by atmosphere, soil, underlying geology, hydrology and the biotic components such as plants and animals. These attributes bring into play a significant influence on the present and future uses of the land by us humans.
The turned focus to land for the sourcing out of food, extraction of natural resources and as a source of income for individuals, has been a norm for years. Decisions on land use have constantly been a part of the evolution of society (FAO, 1976). Since the land use changes have progressed throughout the years, the need for land use planning was brought about.
This process of land use planning aims to guide the decisions taken on land use, as to maximise the benefits of the resources derived from the environment for humans, whilst conserving the very same resources for the future (Rossiter., 1996; FAO., 1976). Since land is ultimately the source of wealth and foundations on which a vast number of civilisations thrive upon (Rossiter., 1996), society need to ensure that land is not degraded. …show more content…
Inappropriate use of land leads to social problems such as poverty (Rossiter., 1996), the exploitation of natural resources and the deterioration of land resources.
According to (Tasser & Tappeiner., 2002; Falucci et al., 2007) land use change has impacted natural and semi-natural ecosystems in various ways over the last few decades. These land use changes also represent a crucial threat to biodiversity in most ecosystems (Sala et al., 2000) with vital consequences for the functions of ecosystems. Thus, part of the solution to the land use problem is land use evaluation. Land use evaluation can be defined as “the process of assessment of land performances when the land is used for specified purposes” (FAO., 1976) Therefore, land evaluation is basically a tool to undertake strategic land use planning. Land evaluation predicts land performances, in terms of the benefits from the productive land use, as well as the expected environmental deterioration that results from the land use. Since land evaluation is concerned with land performance, and what influences its change and its effects (FAO., 1976), it thus considers the following during the process of evaluation : how is the land currently managed; what possible improvements can be made in the present management practices; what alternative uses of land are possible and economically and socially relevant; whether these uses offer possible sustainable production; the adverse effects of the uses and lastly; what measures can be taken to achieve the desired production and reduce the adverse effects (FAO., 1976) Land evaluation is also made useful by understanding that land is not created alike, it varies in its properties, and this variation influences land uses (Rossiter., 1996 ). Rossiter (1996) also states that these variations in properties can be mapped and the behaviour of land can be predicted , thus land suitability can be determined, enabling decision-makers such as, land use planners and agricultural support services, to be stringent with their decisions. To aid the in procedure of land evaluation, computers have been applied at different levels of detail (Rossiter., 1996). The main way in which computers have been utilised in land evaluation, is through the implementation of computer based system, Geographic Information System (GIS) (Marble & Amundson., 1988). The definition of GIS is immensely diverse due to its trans-disciplinary. However, most definitions revolve around the fact that it is a system (computer based) which enables the management, storing, modelling and displaying of spatial data. (Maguire., 1991; Carver., 1991; Kalogirou., 2002). Land use planning and evaluation share a common feature and that is geographic features, thus it is best to collaborate with a system like GIS. The software component of a …show more content…
Remote sensing, aerial photography (Wear & Bolstad., 1998) and surveys are commonly used for obtaining vast amounts of data in computer format, and this can be seen as one of the benefits of GIS (Maguire., 1991). GIS has the ability to take these sources of data and manipulate it to become vital information. Also, the advantages of using remote sensing as a data source can depict the changes of land use by observing the current and archived remote sensed data (Mustafa et al.,
The turned focus to land for the sourcing out of food, extraction of natural resources and as a source of income for individuals, has been a norm for years. Decisions on land use have constantly been a part of the evolution of society (FAO, 1976). Since the land use changes have progressed throughout the years, the need for land use planning was brought about.
This process of land use planning aims to guide the decisions taken on land use, as to maximise the benefits of the resources derived from the environment for humans, whilst conserving the very same resources for the future (Rossiter., 1996; FAO., 1976). Since land is ultimately the source of wealth and foundations on which a vast number of civilisations thrive upon (Rossiter., 1996), society need to ensure that land is not degraded. …show more content…
Inappropriate use of land leads to social problems such as poverty (Rossiter., 1996), the exploitation of natural resources and the deterioration of land resources.
According to (Tasser & Tappeiner., 2002; Falucci et al., 2007) land use change has impacted natural and semi-natural ecosystems in various ways over the last few decades. These land use changes also represent a crucial threat to biodiversity in most ecosystems (Sala et al., 2000) with vital consequences for the functions of ecosystems. Thus, part of the solution to the land use problem is land use evaluation. Land use evaluation can be defined as “the process of assessment of land performances when the land is used for specified purposes” (FAO., 1976) Therefore, land evaluation is basically a tool to undertake strategic land use planning. Land evaluation predicts land performances, in terms of the benefits from the productive land use, as well as the expected environmental deterioration that results from the land use. Since land evaluation is concerned with land performance, and what influences its change and its effects (FAO., 1976), it thus considers the following during the process of evaluation : how is the land currently managed; what possible improvements can be made in the present management practices; what alternative uses of land are possible and economically and socially relevant; whether these uses offer possible sustainable production; the adverse effects of the uses and lastly; what measures can be taken to achieve the desired production and reduce the adverse effects (FAO., 1976) Land evaluation is also made useful by understanding that land is not created alike, it varies in its properties, and this variation influences land uses (Rossiter., 1996 ). Rossiter (1996) also states that these variations in properties can be mapped and the behaviour of land can be predicted , thus land suitability can be determined, enabling decision-makers such as, land use planners and agricultural support services, to be stringent with their decisions. To aid the in procedure of land evaluation, computers have been applied at different levels of detail (Rossiter., 1996). The main way in which computers have been utilised in land evaluation, is through the implementation of computer based system, Geographic Information System (GIS) (Marble & Amundson., 1988). The definition of GIS is immensely diverse due to its trans-disciplinary. However, most definitions revolve around the fact that it is a system (computer based) which enables the management, storing, modelling and displaying of spatial data. (Maguire., 1991; Carver., 1991; Kalogirou., 2002). Land use planning and evaluation share a common feature and that is geographic features, thus it is best to collaborate with a system like GIS. The software component of a …show more content…
Remote sensing, aerial photography (Wear & Bolstad., 1998) and surveys are commonly used for obtaining vast amounts of data in computer format, and this can be seen as one of the benefits of GIS (Maguire., 1991). GIS has the ability to take these sources of data and manipulate it to become vital information. Also, the advantages of using remote sensing as a data source can depict the changes of land use by observing the current and archived remote sensed data (Mustafa et al.,