Globalization, urbanization, and new policies are changing land use, environment, and rural life. Policy makers need means to understand changes and their impacts for making wise decisions. This paper explores a methodological landscape-level approach for assessment and monitoring of changes in land use, forest cover and society, its drivers and impacts. It is based upon experience from case studies in Asia and Africa. The paper suggests that such approaches should address major issues of land use change including its drivers and impacts, generate policy relevant and accurate information, be cost-efficient and practical to implement, make appropriate use of modern knowledge, and engage stakeholders and decision makers. Technically, the approaches should cover all land types, objectively describe current land use and trends, enable verification, and be robust and flexible to address upcoming needs.
Part of the book: Precious Forests