Open Access
Appendix A
Glossary of land use classifications.
| Land use | Description |
|---|---|
| Agricultural land | Land used for cultivation of crops and animal husbandry. The total of areas under “Cropland” and “Permanent meadows and pastures”. |
| Agriculture | The total of areas under “Land under temporary crops”, “Land under temporary meadows and pastures”, “Land with temporary fallow”, “Land under permanent crops”, “Land under permanent meadows and pastures”, and “Land under protective cover”. This category includes tilled and fallow land, and naturally grown permanent meadows and pastures used for grazing, animal feeding or agricultural purpose. Scattered land under farm buildings, yards and their annexes, and permanently uncultivated land, such as uncultivated patches, banks, footpaths, ditches, headlands and shoulders are traditionally included. |
| Arable land | The total of areas under temporary crops, temporary meadows and pastures, and land with temporary fallow. Arable land does not include land that is potentially cultivable but is not normally cultivated. |
| Country area | Area under national sovereignty. It is the sum of land area, inland waters and coastal waters. It excludes the exclusive economic zone. |
| Cropland | Land used for cultivation of crops. The total of areas under “Arable land” and “Permanent crops”. |
| Forest land | Land spanning more than 0.5 ha with trees higher than 5 m and a canopy cover of more than 10%, or trees able to reach these thresholds in situ. Excludes land that is predominantly under agricultural or urban land use, and land that is predominantly used for maintenance and restoration of environmental function. Explanatory notes: (1) Forest land is determined both by the presence of trees and by the absence of other predominant land uses. The trees should be able to reach a minimum height of 5 m in situ. (2) Includes areas with young trees that have not yet reached but that are expected to reach a canopy cover of 10% and tree height of 5 m. It also includes areas that are temporarily unstocked owing to clear-cutting as part of a forest management practice or natural disasters, and that are expected to be regenerated within five years. Local conditions may, in exceptional cases, justify the use of a longer time frame. (3) Includes forest roads, firebreaks and other small open areas. (4) May include forest land in national parks, nature reserves and other protected areas, such as those of specific environmental, scientific, historical, cultural or spiritual interest. (5) Includes windbreaks, shelter belts and corridors of trees with an area of more than 0.5 ha and width of more than 20 m. (6) Includes abandoned shifting cultivation land with a regeneration of trees that have, or is expected to reach, a canopy cover of 10% and tree height of 5 m. (7) Includes areas with mangroves in tidal zones, regardless of whether this area is classified as land area or not. (8) Includes areas with bamboo and palms provided that land use, height and canopy cover criteria are met. (9) Some agroforestry systems such as the taungya system, where crops are grown only during the first years of the forest rotation should be classified as forest. (10) Excludes: tree stands in agricultural production systems, such as fruit-tree plantations (→Permanent crops), oil palm plantations, rubber and Christmas trees (→Permanent crops) and agroforestry systems when crops are grown under tree cover |
| Forestry | Land used for forestry. Excludes land that is predominantly under agricultural or urban use. |
| Forestry area actually irrigated | Land area actually irrigated that is land used for Forestry. |
| Inland waters | Inland waters are areas corresponding to natural or artificial water courses, serving to drain natural or artificial bodies of water, including lakes, reservoirs, rivers, brooks, streams, ponds, inland canals, dams, and other land-locked waters. The banks constitute limits whether the water is present or not. |
| Land area | Country area excluding area under inland waters and coastal waters. |
| Land under perm. meadows and pastures | Land used permanently (five years or more) to grow herbaceous forage crops through cultivation or naturally (wild prairie or grazing land). Permanent meadows and pastures on which trees and shrubs are grown should be recorded under this heading only if the growing of forage crops is the most important use of the area. Measures may be taken to keep or increase productivity of the land (i.e., use of fertilizers, mowing or systematic grazing by domestic animals.) This class includes: (1) Grazing in wooded areas (agroforestry areas, for example). (2) Grazing in shrubby zones (heath, maquis, garigue). (3) Grassland in the plain or low mountain areas used for grazing: land crossed during transhumance where the animals spend a part of the year (approximately 100 days) without returning to the holding in the evening: mountain and subalpine meadows and similar; and steppes and dry meadows used for pasture. |
| Land under permanent crops | Land cultivated with long-term crops which do not have to be replanted for several years (such as cocoa and coffee), land under trees and shrubs producing flowers (such as roses and jasmine), and nurseries (except those for forest trees, which should be classified under “Forestry”). Permanent meadows and pastures are excluded from land under permanent crops. |
| Land under protective cover | Land used for agriculture occupied by dwellings on farms, etc.: dwellings, operating buildings (hangars, barns, cellars, greenhouses, silos), buildings for animal production (stables, cowsheds, pig sheds, sheep pens, poultry yards), family gardens, farmyards. |
| Land under temp. meadows and pastures | Land temporarily cultivated with herbaceous forage crops for mowing or pasture. A period of less than five years is used to differentiate between temporary and permanent meadows and pastures. |
| Land under temporary crops | Land used for crops with a less-than-one-year growing cycle, which must be newly sown or planted for further production after the harvest. Some crops that remain in the field for more than one year may also be considered as temporary crops e.g., asparagus, strawberries, pineapples, bananas and sugar cane. Multiple-cropped areas are counted only once. |
| Land with temporary fallow | Land that is not seeded for one or more growing seasons. The maximum idle period is usually less than five years. This land may be in the form sown for the exclusive production of green manure. Land remaining fallow for too long may acquire characteristics requiring it to be reclassified, as for instance “Permanent meadows and pastures” if used for grazing or haying. |
| Other land | Land area not classified as “Agriculture” and “Forestry”. It includes SEEA categories “Land used for aquaculture”, “Built-up and related areas”, “Land Use for maintenance and restoration of environmental functions”, “Other uses of land not elsewhere classified”, and “Land not in use”. |
| Other naturally regenerated forest | Naturally regenerated forest where there are clearly visible indications of human activities. Explanatory notes: 1. Includes selectively logged-over areas, areas regenerating following agricultural land use, areas recovering from human-induced fires, etc.2. Includes forests where it is not possible to distinguish whether planted or naturally regenerated.3. Includes forests with a mix of naturally regenerated trees and planted/seeded trees, and where the naturally regenerated trees are expected to constitute more than 50% of the growing stock at stand maturity. |
| Perm. meadows & pastures – Cultivated | Land under “Permanent meadows and pastures” that is managed and cultivated. |
| Perm. meadows & pastures – Nat. growing | Land under “Permanent meadows and pastures” that is naturally growing. |
| Perm. meadows & pastures area actually irrig. | Agricultural land actually irrigated that is Permanent meadows and pastures. |
| Perm. meadows & pastures area certified organic | Permanent meadows and pastures area certified organic. |
| Perm. meadows & pastures area under organic agric. | Permanent meadows and pastures area certified organic and/or in-conversion to organic. |
| Planted forest | Forest predominantly composed of trees established through planting and/or deliberate seeding. Explanatory notes: (1) In this context, predominantly means that the planted/seeded trees are expected to constitute more than 50% of the growing stock at maturity. (2) Includes coppice from trees that were originally planted or seeded. (3) Includes rubberwood, cork oak and Christmas tree plantations. (4) Excludes self-sown trees of introduced species. |
| Primary forest | Naturally regenerated forest of native species, where there are no clearly visible indications of human activities and the ecological processes are not significantly disturbed. Explanatory note: (1) Some key characteristics of primary forests are: (a) they show natural forest dynamics, such as natural tree species composition, occurrence of dead wood, natural age structure and natural regeneration processes; (b) the area is large enough to maintain its natural characteristics; (c) there has been no known significant human intervention or the last significant human intervention was long enough ago to have allowed the natural species composition and processes to have become re-established. |
Source: FAO (2018).
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