The relationship between biodiversity loss and climate change emerged as another important negotiating issue. PHOTO/IISD/ENB – Mike Muzurakis.
By PATRICK MAYOYO
As pressure on land, soil and water intensifies, the updated FAO Guidelines for Integrated Land Use Planning (ILUP), launched today during the seventeenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP17), provide a modern, voluntary and non-binding framework to help countries make more integrated, evidence-based and participatory decisions on how these finite resources are used, restored and protected.
The Guidelines respond to growing and competing demands on land, soil and water resources, helping countries balance demands from agriculture, urbanization and infrastructure with conservation, restoration, food and water security, land degradation neutrality, climate resilience and sustainable socioeconomic development.
Practical and country-driven, the Guidelines are designed to complement and support existing policies, planning processes and institutional arrangements rather than replace or prescribe national planning systems. This allows countries to adapt tools, indicators and approaches to their national priorities, legal frameworks and contexts.
As the first major update since 1993, the updated framework reflects advances in geospatial technologies, digital information systems, land evaluation, multi-criteria analysis and decision-support systems.
“Central to this is soil intelligence: combining soil data, mapping, monitoring and local knowledge to guide practical decisions on land use, production, restoration and investment”, FAO Deputy Director-General Beth Bechdol said.
The updated guidelines also put stakeholder engagement and inclusive, transparent decision-making at the centre of the planning process.
A forthcoming Practitioners’ Guide will translate the ILUP nine-step framework into actionable guidance for implementation.
The ILUP Guidelines contribute to the transformation towards more efficient, more inclusive, more resilient and more sustainable agri-food systems and provide practical guidance for implementing integrated approaches that strengthen synergies among the Rio Conventions, while advancing the Sustainable Development Goals.
FAO developed the Guidelines through an extensive global consultation process involving FAO Members, technical experts and partner organizations across all regions.
The acknowledgement by the FAO Committee on Agriculture at its Thirtieth Session (COAG30) marked an important step towards a more integrated approach to the sustainable management and use of land, soil and water resources.