STAGES OF LAND USE SUITABILITY ASSESSMENT
by Anton Antonio
April 8, 2015
“Land use planning is the process of determining the ideal
combination of protection, preservation and conservation as opposed to
utilization of land resources in a particular area. The aim of land use planning is the
sustainable development of goods and services as to guarantee the long-term
availability of the resources akin to this specific area.” (Antonio, 2015)
There are three important stages in the process of assessing
land use suitability. These stages are:
Stage Process One: Identification
and analysis of the different land uses that match the present and future needs
of an identified community. Together
with recommendations from SMEs (subject matter experts) and the stakeholders
from both within and those living in the immediate periphery of the project
area, participatory consultations could be made to come up with the “best fit”
land use. Establishing the framework
based on the vision and mission of the project is also important in drawing up
the preliminary plans.
Stage Process Two: This
stage is designed to be the compatibility analysis which entails finding an
appropriate match between the site requirement of a particular land use and the
site quality of this particular area. A
compatibility analysis involves the determination of the suitability of various
areas to a given land use. This is also
commonly referred to as land suitability assessment.
Stage Process Three:
This stage involves the more detailed and elaborate process of
determining the potential response of an area to a particular land use or a
combination of land uses that were identified as compatible to the target area
in Stage Process One. The parameters to
be used in rendering a decision on the final land use are (a) changes in the
productivity of the area, (b) changes in the level of fertility of the area,
and (c) changes in soil erosion possibilities.
These parameters should be treated equally. Potential failure in one parameter should
indicate the necessity of reviewing the entire process and crafting alternative
courses of action.
This three-staged process will have to be repeatedly
followed until all the parameters are satisfied and the risks are held to a
negligible (meaning: small or unimportant as to be not worth considering) and
insignificant minimum. Soil degradation
and non-productivity could be the ultimate result when there is a failure in
land use assessment. It is therefore
very important to adhere religiously to the stages of land use suitability
assessment.
Just my little
thoughts…
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