Land evaluation

After the identification and delineation of land on the basis of comparable biophysical characteristics into natural land units, land evaluation comprises successively:

• assessment of the inherent land qualities of the identified natural land units, their constraints and opportunities,

• identification and characterization of present forms of land cover and land use,

• identification of prospective land utilization types or production systems,

• identification of the bio-physical and socio-economic requirements of the identified land utilization types,

• matching of the inherent land requirements of the utilization types under consideration,

• the formulation of recommended land uses - or non-uses - in order of decreasing appropriateness, per land unit.

The last step (formulation of recommended land uses) is often the least neutral because it requires a comparison of economically quantifiable land values such as the agricultural production potential, or the effects of infrastructural improvements, against largely non-tangible or non quantifiable values such as biodiversity or heritage characteristics of the land.

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