ABSTRACT
Land use planning must be part of a strategic management policy to set guidelines for sustainable development. In the case of agriculture, this challenge is even greater, because of the need to increase feedstock production to meet the demand for biofuels. Given that land is a limited resource and land use for agriculture has significant environmental impacts, the identification of the productive potential of different areas is mandatory in order to limit these impacts to the lowest possible level. A first step in developing any sort of tool for land use planning is to have a thorough database of technical information on different aspects, such as: soil, climate, topography, water resources and land use. Additionally, it is necessary to identify the areas not recommended for economic uses, including those areas prioritized for environmental preservation to protect sensitive ecosystems and maintain areas of high biodiversity. Areas recommended and not recommended for economic uses are identified through so-called ecological and economic zoning (EEZ). Once completed, the second step is to identify the activities most favourable for the areas considered suitable for economic use, and this is done through agro-ecological zonings, based on soil and climate surveys. The zoning concepts are discussed below.
