UNIT 2: MODULE 5 LAND USE, NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENERGY

INTRODUCTION:

"Land" is where "soil" and "people" meet; and there are often competing demands for land, for
example, agriculture, forestry, rangeland, conservation, settlement, and recreation. Demographic and
socioeconomic changes, the increasing needs for food and housing and changes in national policies are
resulting in extensive and intensive land use changes. Land use change has implications for biodiversity,
water quality, air quality and human livelihoods. Further, while much land use change takes place
locally, its implications can be regional and global. For example land use change plays an important role
in global biogeochemical cycling. For all these reasons, the study of land use is becoming increasingly
important and requires a multidisciplinary approach. This concentration provides students with a
background in the ecological, cultural, regional, and international dimensions of land use, while
developing broad technical skills in Geographic Information Science and remote sensing. As a result, this
concentration prepares students for positions in land use planning, sustainable land development, and
land conservation.

What is land use and environmental planning?

The land use and environmental planning concentration focuses on how planners help guide the physical
and ecological shape of cities and regions through state and local policy intervention into land-use
patterns and environmental protection.

Why is land important to the environment?

The land sustains every aspect of our lives, providing fundamental life-support systems and the
foundation of our economy and society. It is the place we stand. And also the place we act. It is where
we make decisions that affect not just the land, but also water, oceans, air, and atmosphere, and the life
they support.

Land Use Examples

The six main categories and examples of each are described as follows:
-Recreational land use is the land that is used for recreational purposes. In rural areas, this includes
camping, hiking, hunting, fishing, etcetera. Urban areas can include city parks, playing fields, hiking and
biking trails, etcetera. Laws and zoning regulations ensure that the land is only used for recreational
purposes.
-Agricultural land use is land used for growing crops such as corn, wheat, beans, etcetera, and orchards
and vineyards. It also includes land used in raising and grazing farm animals such as cattle, sheep, pigs.
-Commercial land use is land that has been zoned for use in the sale of goods and services for financial
profit. Examples of commercial land use include central business districts, shopping districts such as
large or strip malls, and many kinds of health and personal services.
-Industrial land use is the land used in the manufacturing, storing, packaging, processing, etcetera. For
example, manufacturing plants, sawmills, chemical plants, oil refineries, etcetera.
-Transport land use is the land delegated to the moving or transportation of goods and people from one
spot to another. Examples include roads, highways, railroads, and airports.
-Residential land use is the land used for housing. It includes single-family units with yards to multiple-
unit structures such as apartment complexes, condominiums, and town homes.

Significance of Types of Land Use

The land is a finite resource, which means that when land is taken for one use, it has to come from land
used for a different purpose. As human populations move and change, information about land use can
guide decisions and ensure that land is used fairly and its quality is not compromised.
When populations move into cities from rural areas, it is called urbanization. Urbanization typically
presents a need for land-use change. With more people comes the need for more housing and jobs,
which could mean that agricultural or natural recreational land use must be converted to residential,
business, industrial, and transport land use. There is also land designated for recreational use (parks,
playgrounds.

City planners and other agencies study how and where people settle to make predictions and
recommendations for future land use. Regulations and zoning laws are based on this information and
guide proper land use.
Zoning and regulating how land is used can protect the quality of an area, whether urban or rural. For
example, land zoned for residential development may be best when situated in an area away from large
agricultural or industrial zones. On the other hand, commercial land use may be well suited to be near
residential land.

Why is land important to the environment?

The land sustains every aspect of our lives, providing fundamental life-support systems and the
foundation of our economy and society. It is the place we stand. And also the place we act. It is where
we make decisions that affect not just the land, but also water, oceans, air, and atmosphere, and the life
they support.

How is land use related to sustainability?

Sustainable land management is the use of land to meet changing human needs (agriculture, forestry,
conservation), while ensuring long-term socioeconomic and ecological functions of the land.

How much land in the Philippines is used for agriculture? Around 13.42 million hectares
In 2020, the total land area used for agricultural crop cultivation in the Philippines was around 13.42
million hectares. The land area used for agricultural crop cultivation in the country was mainly used for
cultivating palay, corn, and coconut.
Land use: agricultural land: 41% (2018 est.)
Arable land: 18.2% (2018 est.)
Permanent crops: 17.8% (2018 est.)
Permanent pasture: 5% (2018 est.)
Forest: 25.9% (2018 est.)
Other: 33.1% (2018 est.)

Definition: This entry contains

the percentage shares of total
land area for three different
types of land use: agricultural
land, forest, and other; agricultural land is further divided into arable land - land cultivated for crops like
wheat, maize, and rice that are replanted after each harvest, permanent crops - land cultivated for crops
like citrus, coffee, and rubber that are not replanted after each harvest, and includes land under
flowering shrubs, fruit trees, nut trees, and vines, and permanent pastures and meadows – land used for
at least five years or more to grow herbaceous forage, either cultivated or growing naturally; forest area
is land spanning more than 0.5 hectare with trees higher than five meters and a canopy cover of more
than 10% to include windbreaks, shelterbelts, and corridors of trees greater than 0.5 hectare and at
least 20 m wide; land classified as other includes built-up areas, roads and other transportation features,
barren land, or wasteland.

Ten facts about land systems for sustainability

Land use is central to addressing sustainability issues, including biodiversity conservation, climate
change, food security, poverty alleviation, and sustainable energy. These facts help to explain the
challenges of achieving sustainability in land use and thus also point toward solutions. The 10 facts are
as follows: 1) Meanings and values of land are socially constructed and contested; 2) land systems
exhibit complex behaviours with abrupt, hard-to-predict changes; 3) irreversible changes and path
dependence are common features of land systems; 4) some land uses have a small footprint but very
large impacts; 5) drivers and impacts of land-use change are globally interconnected and spill over to
distant locations; 6) humanity lives on a used planet where all land provides benefits to societies; 7)
land-use change usually entails trade-offs between different benefits—"win–wins" are thus rare; 8) land
tenure and land-use claims are often unclear, overlapping, and contested; 9) the benefits and burdens
from land are unequally distributed; and 10) land users have multiple, sometimes conflicting, ideas of
what social and environmental justice entails. The facts have implications for governance, but do not
provide fixed answers. Instead they constitute a set of core principles which can guide scientists, policy
makers, and practitioners toward meeting sustainability challenges in land use.

Effects of Land Use Changes

Land use changes occur constantly and at many scales, and can have specific and cumulative effects on
air and water quality, watershed function, generation of waste, extent and quality of wildlife habitat,
climate, and human health.

Land Development
 Land development creates impervious surfaces through construction of roads, parking lots, and
other structures. Impervious surfaces:
 Contribute to nonpoint source water pollution by limiting the capacity of soils to filter runoff.
 Affect peak flow and water volume, which heighten erosion potential and affect habitat and
water quality.
 Increase storm water runoff, which can deliver more pollutants to water bodies that residents
may rely on for drinking and recreation.1 Storm runoff from urban and suburban areas contains
dirt, oils from road surfaces, nutrients from fertilizers, and various toxic compounds.

Affect ground water aquifer recharge.

 Point source discharges from industrial and municipal wastewater treatment facilities can
contribute toxic compounds and heated water.
 Some land development patterns, in particular dispersed growth such as “suburbanization,” can
contribute to a variety of environmental concerns. For example:
 Increased air pollution due to vehicle use results in higher concentrations of certain air pollutants
in developed areas that may exacerbate human health problems such as asthma.2
 Land development can lead to the formation of “heat islands,” domes of warmer air over urban
and suburban areas that are caused by the loss of trees and shrubs and the absorption of more
 heat by pavement, buildings, and other sources. Heat islands can affect local, regional, and global
climate, as well as air quality.3

Agricultural Uses
Agricultural land uses can affect the quality of water and watersheds, including:
 The types of crops planted, tillage practices, and various irrigation practices can limit the amount
of water available for other uses.
 Livestock grazing in riparian zones can change landscape conditions by reducing stream bank
vegetation and increasing water temperatures, sedimentation, and nutrient levels.
 Runoff from pesticides, fertilizers, and nutrients from animal manure can also degrade water
quality.
 Agricultural land use may also result in loss of native habitats or increased wind erosion and dust,
exposing humans to particulate matter and various chemicals.4
 Some land uses can accelerate or exacerbate the spread of invasive species. For example:
 Certain agricultural land use practices, such as overgrazing, land conversion, fertilization, and the
use of agricultural chemicals, can enhance the growth of invasive plants.5 These plants can alter
fish and wildlife habitat, contribute to decreases in biodiversity, and create health risks to
livestock and humans.
 Introduction of invasive species on agricultural lands can reduce water quality and water
availability for native fish and wildlife species.
 Research is beginning to elucidate the connections between land use changes and infectious
disease. For example, some studies indicate that spread of vector-borne disease may be
influenced by land use and/or other environmental change.
 Other studies indicate that fragmentation of forest habitat into smaller patches separated by
agricultural activities or developed land increases the “edge effect” and promotes the interaction
among pathogens, vectors, and hosts.
 In some cases, changes in land use may have positive effects, such as increasing habitat (as a
result of deliberate habitat restoration measures) and reclamation of previously contaminated
lands for urban/suburban development.