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AGENDA 21, CHAPTER 10



INTEGRATED APPROACH TO THE PLANNING
AND MANAGEMENT OF LAND RESOURCES







NOTE:	This is a final, advanced version of a chapter of Agenda 21, as 
adopted by the Plenary in Rio de Janeiro, on June 14, 1992.  
This document will be further edited, translated into the 
official languages, and published by the United Nations for the 
General Assembly this autumn.





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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

	Sources of funds and concessional financing

10.13.  The UNCED 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 revised 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.

A21: ... Management of Land 
Resources (Ch.10), Advance Copy  
Page 1




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