The document discusses the challenges and methodologies for sustainable land use planning, particularly in Small Island Developing States (SIDS). It outlines concerns such as land degradation, water shortages, and socio-economic constraints, while emphasizing the need for sustainable land management practices and indicators. The text also identifies the distinct farming systems within SIDS, including estate and subsistence farms, and highlights issues related to data collection and analysis for effective decision-making.

1. 1
Managing Information for
Decision-making in Land Use
Planning.
Overview of concerns relating to sustainable
land use planning and agriculture (SIDS)

2. 2
LIMITS AND CONSTRAINTS TO
SUSTAINABLE LAND MANAGEMENT
– Shortages of Arable Land
– Land Degradation
– Loss of Agricultural Land to Urbanization
– Water Shortages
– Biophysical constraints
– Socio-economic constraints
– Changing Political climate

3. 3
CONCEPT OF SUSTAINABLE
LAND MANAGEMENT
 Pillars (UNCED, 1993)
– Productivity-Maintain or enhance
production/services .
– Security-Reduce the level of production risk.
– Protection-Protect the potential or natural
resources and prevent degradation of soil and
water quality.
– Viable-Be economically viable.
– Acceptability-Be socially acceptable

4. 4
Methodological Framework
BIOPHYSICAL FACTORS SOCIOECONOMIC FACTORS
PRODUCTION SYSTEM
SOIL
WATER
VEGETATION
OTHERS
NATURAL
INFLUENCES
CLIMATE
USE
SITE
ACT UAL
SITUATION
Socio cultural factors
POPULATION
CHARACTERISTICS
ACCESS TO SERVICES,
INFRASTRUCTURE,
CREDIT, ETC.
HUMAN
INFLUENCES
PRODUCTION
SYSTEMS
POLITICAL
INSTITUTIONAL
Economic Institutionalfactors

5. 5
Overview of the SIDS
Agricultural Environment
 characterized by two distinct categories of
farming systems that share symbiotic
relationships with each other.
– Estate farms on flat to gentle undulating
lands
– Subsistence farms on the more marginal
lands.

6. 6
CHARACTERISTICS OF
ESTATE FARMS
 Commercial and export oriented
 Mono cropping system on the same plot of
land for many years
 Rely heavily on subsistence farm labour to
carry out farming operations
 Utilizes conventional intensive farming
technology.
 Influence by the political climate (internal and
external)

7. 7
CONCERNS
Degradation:
 Declining yields
 Influence of soil borne and other diseases
 Declining soil fertility (shortening or
elimination fallow periods)
 Pollution of ground water
 Soil salinity
 Globalization

8. 8
CHARACTERISTICS OF
SUBSISTENCE FARMING
 Complex farming systems geared
mainly at the domestic market
 Soil erosion and watershed degradation
 Relies on commercial farms and other
off-farm activities for employment to
supplement farm income
 Multiple cropping system which varies
according to season.

9. 9
TYPES OF SUBSISTENCE
FARMERS
 Business approach type farmers
 Commercial/subsistence type farmers
 Serious farmers without the means
 Farmers with resources which are not
utilized
 Farmers by default
 Way of life farmers
(P. Meikle, 1998)

10. 10
ENVIRONMENTAL AND
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
INDICATORS (ESDIs)
– Since the concept of sustainable development
cannot be defined, indicators should be
developed to determine levels and duration of
sustainability (Zinc and Farshad, 1995).
 ESDI indicator for Agriculture, land and food
 Arable and permanent crop land area

11. 11
ISSUES AND CHALLENGES
Climatic databases
 All countries have a network of meteorological
stations, to observe and document climate and
weather conditions.
 In areas of difficult access, these stations may
be wide apart with a limited number of recording
years
 Time gaps in recording
 Incompleteness in the range of attributes
needed.

12. 12
ISSUES AND CHALLENGES
Soil and Terrain
 Classification criteria and naming of soils
differ among countries, making correlations
between classifications and countries difficult

13. 13
ISSUES AND CHALLENGES
Water resources databases
 Analysis of data from meteorological stations
 Repeated measurements of stream flows
 Assessment of ground water reserves through
borehole analysis
 Amount and types of actual uses being made of the
water resources.
 Some countries may not have the equipment or
resources to take these measurements on an on-going
basis.
 Cost of taking some of these measurements may be
expensive.

14. 14
ISSUES AND CHALLENGES
Land cover and biodiversity databases
 Geo-referenced information on floral and faunal
diversity is scarce
 Areas of known or inferred archeological value or
reflecting typical past land use systems need to be
mapped

15. 15
ISSUES AND CHALLENGES
Land uses, crop and production
systems
• Land use information is usually consolidated at
district level rather than being fully georeferenced.
• Lack of practical, simple and widely accepted method
of describing land uses and production systems is a
serious constraint
• Each land use type should be assessed on its
inherent sustainability, on the basis of a set of
sustainable indicators

16. 16
ISSUES AND CHALLENGES
Land uses, crop and production systems
• Basic information on the environmental
requirements of new cultivars and non-traditional
crops is not widely available or may not be
available for the conditions in some SIDS.
• Existing databases are limited with respect to
coverage and classes
• Little management information included in maps

17. 17
ISSUES AND CHALLENGES
• Economy of inputs and outputs is liable to strong
variability
• Biophysical databases may have a useable
lifetime of 20 - 30 years
• Economic and social databases will normally
have to be revised every 5 - 10 years.
• Limitation in data availability and data quality at
all scales, especially those that require
substantial ground truthing
• Lack of METADATA and protocols for data
collection.