Introduction to Land Evaluation (SST 5201)

The need for land evaluation: why we need to evaluate land?

Sabah

Land evaluation is formally defined as 'the assessment of land performance when used for a specified purpose, involving the execution and interpretation of surveys and studies of land forms, soils, vegetation, climate and other aspects of land in order to identify and make a comparison of promising kinds of land use in terms applicable to the objectives of the evaluation' (FAO, 1976).

How people or nations use their land depends on complex, interrelated factors which include:

1. the characteristics of the land itself
2. economic factors
3. social, legal and political constraints
4. the needs and objectives of the land user

In order to make rational decisions, it is necessary to collect the right information about the physical, social and economic aspects of the land area in question and assess the land's relative suitability for different uses in the light of the needs and objectives of the land user and the community.

This process is known technically as land suitability evaluation (penilaian kesesuaian tanah) or simply as land evaluation. The basic methodology was set out in the 1976 FAO Publication: A Framework for Land Evaluation (Soil Bulletin 32).

http://www.fao.org/docrep/X5310E/X5310E00.htm

"The essence of land evaluation is to compare or match the requirements of each potential land use with the characteristics of each kind of land'

KZ Notes:

• Land evaluation is a basic necessity for all planners/developers/government agencies to look upon before they start doing any development project in any piece of land.
• A good evaluation will help main objectives of land development can be achieved in a sustainable way, thus will eventually reduce cost in a long term.
• Land use planning ensures the use of land resources in an organized fashion so that the needs of the present and future generations can be best addressed.
• Land use planning has as its basic purpose to ensure that each area of land will be used so as to provide maximum social benefits, especially including food production, without degradation of the land resource. 

LECTURE NOTES:

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