1. Introduction
The development of studies that allow generating the information in process such as the “territorial ordering” of a Hydrographic Basin, Region and / or Municipality, is the starting point to establish the technical criteria that will guide the development and management of natural resources.
study-capacity-use-land-territorial-planning-high-river-basin-yaque-north-municipality-jarabacoaThe Land Use Capacity Study (ECUT) should be conceived as a decision-making tool, considering the data provided as proposals that reduce the overuse of the soil resource and thereby stabilize the management of natural resources. The ECUT allows the development of actions to government institutions, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), national and international programs and projects to guide the proper management of land resources.
The land is a limited and non-renewable resource and the growth of the human population determines the existence of conflicts regarding its use. There is an urgent need to harmonize the different types of land with the most rational use possible, in order to optimize sustainable production and satisfy diverse needs of society, while preserving fragile ecosystems and genetic inheritance (FAO 1994).
This harmonization of land types with types of uses is possible with the planning of the use, starting from the systematic evaluation of the potential of the land and the water, the alternatives of its use, and the economic and social conditions that guide the selection. and adoption of the best options (FAO 1985, 1994). An important stage in land use planning is determining the suitability of the land.
A first approach to an evaluation of land suitability is the determination of its use capacity in biophysical terms, based on a classification system. Classifications today differ from evaluations in their relatively stable nature and in their purpose of sorting by class or category; on the other hand, evaluations assign and calculate values to the land within a connotation of physical and economic aptitude (Celada 1993; Ritchers 1995). The limitation of evaluations is the fact that they require information systems regarding land and / or types of use.
This Manual presents the basic proposal for the development of Land Use Capacity Studies for the Dominican Republic, being a first approach to the development of the Central Cordillera, largely taken from the Method developed by the National Forest Institute (INAB) of the Republic of Guatemala, having more than eight years of use, having proven useful to guide towards the desirable use of land. The Manual should be considered as a contribution of KfW-GITEC, to the future process of extrapolation of Territorial Planning to other Hydrographic Basins or Municipalities.
2. Objectives of the document
2.1 General objective
Contribute to the adoption and dissemination at the national level of a land classification method and procedure based on its capacity for use, which is relatively easy for technicians to use and has applicability to the conditions of the Dominican Republic.
2.2 Specific objectives
- Propose a useful conceptual basis in land and soil studies, particularly in determining land use capacity. Establish a uniform technical procedure for classifying land by use capacity. Have an instrument that can be useful, mainly in spatial planning tasks in the territory of agricultural and forestry producers.
3. Description of the methodology
Based on reviews of these systems and with the participation of a group of national experts in land use planning, after a series of workshops , a methodology was adopted that combines some principles, concepts and procedures of the systems or schemes of the United States Department of Agriculture –USDA-, TC Sheng and its modifications, Tropical Scientific Center of Costa Rica - CCT -
After testing the methodology, for a period of time greater than one year, a seminar-workshop was organized, bringing together the technicians who participated in the initial formulation of the methodology, as well as a series of professionals who had had the experience of implementing the land classification instrument; Those attending this event had the opportunity to express their opinions regarding the applicability of this methodology, as well as the main obstacles that were presented to them when they used it. Participants in this event are cited in Annex.
3.1 The proposed methodological scheme
Part of the following conceptual elements:
- The Dominican Republic is a country that despite having a relatively small territorial extension, has a great diversity of biophysical conditions. All the lands of the country are feasible for classification, with the exception of the areas that have been subject to urbanization in the different human settlements. It is considered a first level represented by the natural region, which is defined by limits that include geological, climatic, edaphological and hydrographic (physiographic) criteria. Ranges in the levels of the limiting factors differ, according to the natural region in which divided the country. The categories of use capacity present an ordering from highest to lowest intensity of use possible. As factors that limit the use of land,Those that directly affect forest uses in terms of their growth, management and conservation have been considered; easy to measure or estimate and low cost.
