Integrated planning for sustainable management of land resources 1999
FAO Land and Water Digital Media Series, Vol. 8

This CD-ROM provides the user with a variety of selected documents related to integrated planning for sustainable management of land resources published by FAO and GTZ. A video about the GTZ-supported PATECORE project in Burkina Faso illustrates possible ways how to implement planned activities in the field of land resources management. The selection comprises about 30 basic documents, case studies, working papers, workshop proceedings and other related publications on integrated land use planning of both organizations. It illustrates efforts to develop an improved planning approach to meet the demands of Agenda 21, the document of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), 1992. BACKGROUND Continuing land degradation and increasing numbers of people living in poverty are among the symptoms of the current pressure on land resources. To date, the world's response to the dual challenges of satisfying human needs while maintaining the integrity of global ecosystems has been less than successful. The lack of an integrated planning framework for land has historically been compounded by poor management strategies, by the failure to identify stakeholders and involve and empower them in the planning and management process and by weak institutional structures. These problems were clearly recognized during the UNCED. In Agenda 21, UNCED proposed a number of policy and strategy measures which include integration of bio-physical, social and economic issues, the active participation of local communities and the strengthening of institutions in order to achieve the objectives of sustainable development. Several international and bilateral organizations such as FAO and GTZ have been developing and disseminating improved approaches to land resources conservation and development. The approaches are different in details but both centered on the concept of stakeholders and their objectives, and the role of the government in creating conditions within which rural people can use their land resources productively and sustainably. Integration of grass roots participation with systematic procedures for evaluation of resources and of planning is the key to the approaches, and necessary factors for its success.