Land management is the process of managing the use and development (in both urban and rural settings) of land resources. Land resources are used for a variety of purposes which may include organic agriculture, reforestation, water resource management and eco-tourism projects.
Sustainable Land Management is based on four principles:
- Targeted policy and institutional support, including the development of incentive mechanisms for SLM adoption and income generation at the local level;
- Land-user-driven and participatory approaches;
- The integrated use of natural resources on farms and at the ecosystem scale; and
- Multi-level, multi-stakeholder involvement and partnerships at all levels – land users, technical experts and policy-makers.
Forestry
Production Forests:
The practice of forestry with the object of producing maximum quantity of timber, fuel wood and other forest produce is called Production Forestry. The production forestry can be further classified into:
Commercial Forestry:
Commercial forestry aims to get maximum production of timber, fuel wood and other forest products as a business enterprise.
Industrial Forestry: Industrial forestry aims at producing raw material required for industry. In Extension Forestry:
Extension forestry which includes the activity of raising trees on farm lands, villages wastelands and community forest areas and on lands along the sides of roads, canal banks and railway lines (Anon., 1976). More recently, there has been emphasis on dynamic land use planning and efforts are made to maximise production on farmlands under agroforestry.
Agro-Forestry:
Agro-forestry has been defined as a sustainable land management system which increases the yield of the land, combines the production of crops and forest plants and/or animals simultaneously or sequentially on the same unit of land and applies management practices that are compatible with the cultural practices of the local population.