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2.2.5. Land Cover, Land Use, and Agriculture-Related Definitions
This section examines existing national and international definitions of land
and agriculture-related terms that are related to the Kyoto Protocol, especially
Article 3.4.
2.2.5.1. Land
Land is internationally defined as "a delineable area of the earth's
terrestrial surface, encompassing all attributes of the biosphere immediately
above or below this surface, including those of the near-surface climate, the
soils and the terrain forms, the surface hydrology (including shallow lakes,
rivers, marshes, and swamps), the near-surface sedimentary layers and associated
groundwater reserve, the plant and animal populations, the human settlement
pattern and physical results of past and present human activity" (UN, 1994;
CSD, 1996). Terrain forms that occur in a mosaic pattern are termed landscapes
(similar terms are land system units, landscape-ecological units, or
unités de terroir), which in turn constitute the building blocks of a
watershed (catchment area) or a phytogeographic unit (biome).
2.2.5.2. Agricultural Lands
Although "agricultural land" is not mentioned in the Protocol, its definition
is relevant to Article 3.4, which speaks of agricultural soils. In its narrowest
sense, agricultural land is land that is arable and regularly tilled for the
production of annual field crops, with or without irrigation. The word agriculture
refers to a broad class of resource uses that includes all forms of land use
for the production of biotic crops, whether animal or plants. In its broadest
sense, agricultural land includes all land that provides direct benefits for
mankind through the production of food, fiber, forage and fodder, biofuel, meat,
hides, and skins, as well as timber. Only deserts; barren land; non-managed
wetland, woodlands, and forests; and built-up areas are excluded. All categories
included in the World Agricultural Census (FAO, 1995c) (summarized in Table
2-1) are included.
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