The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) introduced voluntary land-use guidelines Thursday as pressure on land, soil and water grows, giving governments a framework to weigh competing uses.
FAO unveiled the guidelines at CBD COP17, the 17th gathering of parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity. The updated Integrated Land Use Planning (ILUP) guidelines are voluntary and nonbinding. They are meant to fit alongside national policies and planning arrangements, rather than prescribe a single model. Governments can choose tools and indicators suited to their priorities, laws and conditions.
The framework addresses competing claims on finite resources. Its scope runs from conservation and restoration to food and water security, climate resilience, land degradation neutrality and sustainable socioeconomic development; it also considers pressures linked to farming, expanding cities and infrastructure. FAO says the aim is to support more integrated, evidence-based and participatory choices about how resources are used and protected.
FAO calls the document its first major revision of the integrated planning guidance since 1993. The new edition draws on multicriteria analysis and decision-support systems, as well as newer geospatial technologies, digital information systems and land evaluation.
FAO Deputy Director-General Beth Bechdol described “soil intelligence” as bringing mapped soil records and ongoing monitoring together with knowledge held locally. She said this information can inform choices on production, restoration and investment.
The process also places stakeholder participation and transparent, inclusive decision-making within the planning framework. FAO said the guidelines were shaped by input from member countries, technical specialists and partner organizations in every region.
The organization presents the guidelines as one contribution to agrifood systems that are more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable. FAO also says integrated planning can strengthen synergies among the Rio Conventions and advance the Sustainable Development Goals.
FAO plans to publish a Practitioners' Guide to show users how to apply the framework's nine steps.
