Land Use Planning

Land use planning is a necessary policy tool for a long-term vision of sustainable development. It allows for a more balanced distribution of activities and populations in space and time across territories. It is also an instrument for national cohesion, mitigating conflicting interests and competition over land and resources that have been major driving forces of forest conversion. And in a region where forests cover from 41 to 93 % of the countries, planning how land is allocated and used means planning for forests. Integrated land-use planning is carried out across sectors and levels of government, and involves the allocation of land for different uses across a landscape in a way that balances economic interests, social value and forest cover.

The question of land-use planning (LUP) underpins so many of the challenges encountered by Central African countries that CAFI dedicated its first (2018) Forum to land use planning as a tool for integrated, inclusive and sustainable development.

CAFI currently supports programmes on land use planning in the DRC and Gabon.