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Availability: Existing land use

To what extent is existing land use information available as open data?

Definitions and Identifications

Land use is commonly defined as a series of operations on land, carried out by humans, with the intention to obtain products, and/or benefits through using land resources. Land use refers to the purposes to which land is put; these may be residential, industrial, commercial, agricultural, forestry, or recreational.

This indicator focuses on data on actual uses of land rather than planned uses, asking about structured datasets that detail the kinds of activities occurring in particular locations, with associated geospatial references. Land use data should include metadata that describes the land use nomenclatures and hierarchies used, as well as information on protected areas and forested areas. To track how land use changes over time, there should also be a well-maintained archive of previous existing land uses.

A forested area or forest land “includes all land with woody vegetation consistent with thresholds used to define forest land in the national GHG inventory, sub-divided into managed and unmanaged, and also by ecosystem type as specified in the IPCC Guidelines. It also includes systems with vegetation that currently fall below, but are expected to exceed, the threshold of the forest land category”(IPCC et al. 2003: 24).

A protected area is defined as a “geographical space, recognised, dedicated and managed, through legal or other effective means, to achieve the long term conservation of nature with associated ecosystem services and cultural values” (IUCN 2008).

Example: The Australian Collaborative Land Use and Management Program (ACLUMP) makes land use maps available for exploring online, as well as making them accessible through APIs and downloads.

Note: Land use data may have different levels of detail, depending on the area covered. National land use maps tend to cover wider areas but with limited detail, while more local publications tend to offer detailed land use data in smaller units, such as parcels.

Start by looking for national-level datasets that provide information about current land uses, cover a wide range of land uses, and include geospatial references. You may find digital maps and/or other kinds of downloadable files such as .xls, .shp, .geoJSON, etc. If there is no single national dataset or repository of local datasets, look for land use datasets for smaller areas.

As a methodological warning, land use data tends to be very localized. In some cases, national maps are published by combining different local sources. In some cases, gaps are filled by commercial initiatives. Often, different publishing systems within a country may not be consistent with one another.

Starting Points

  • Search:
    • Open data portals;
    • National geographic institutes;
    • Environment agencies;
    • Land information offices;
    • Geoportals.
  • Consult:
    • Organizations that work with land issues;
    • Experts on land use land use change (LULUC);
    • Geospatial data experts;
    • Climate action advocates.

What to look for?

To complete the assessment for this question you will need to access and explore the available data. This may involve running queries on datasets to check the variety of land uses and other features included.

Look for evidence of:

  • A land uses dictionary that provides an overview of possible land uses and the nomenclature used.
  • A register or archive of previous uses that makes it possible to track changes in land use over time.
  • Information identifying forested areas, either in the main dataset assessed or in an associated one (e.g., one that is linked to, is available on the same page, or can found in the same domain).
  • Information identifying protected areas, either in the main dataset assessed or in an associated one (e.g., one that is linked to, is available on the same page, or can found in the same domain).

To answer the sub-question, ‘How comprehensive is the data available in terms of types of land uses?’ you will have to determine if the available land use data covers only one or a few land use categories (protected areas, industrial use, etc.), or if covers a wide range of land uses.

National and sub-national considerations

When available, we prioritize assessment of land use data at the national level. In cases where only aggregated statistical data exists for the national and/or sub-national level, note this in your response to the question on the geospatial data. If no national data is found—or only statistical data—you can assess a sub-national dataset. Record this in your response to the question 'How comprehensive is the data assessed for this question?' and explain as appropriate in the indicator's justification box.

Show/hide supporting questions

Existence

  • Is this data available online in any form?
    • Data is not available online.
      Supporting questions: Are there other offline ways to access this data in the country? (e.g., attending an office to inspect it).
    • Data is available, but not as a result of government action.
      Supporting questions: If government is not providing access to data, how is this data available? Please provide a URL(s) for where this data can be found.
    • Data is available from government, or because of government actions.
      Supporting questions: Please provide a URL(s) for where this data can be found.

Elements

  • Data fields and quality:

  • Each record is categorized according to a standardized land use dictionary. (No, Partially, Yes)

  • Forested areas can be identified in available data or in a related dataset. (No, Partially, Yes)

  • Protected areas can be identified in available data or in a related dataset. (No, Partially, Yes)

  • Each record includes a geospatial reference. (No, Partially, Yes) Answer 'No' if there is data about land use at a country level, but it is aggregated and cannot be mapped with detail. Answer 'Partially' if each record of land use has a geospatial reference, but lacks more granular details (e.g., only includes references at a state or province level). Answer 'Yes' if each record includes a geospatial reference associated with a precise location.

  • Metadata provides information about the source(s) from which the data was built. (No, Partially, Yes) Answer 'Partially' if the institutional source is stated, but not the technical approach. Answer 'Yes' if metadata includes information about the tools used to collect the data and build the dataset, such as: satellite images, remote sensing, aerial photography, LiDAR, administrative records, volunteered geographic information (VGI), etc.

    Supporting questions (conditional)

    If Partially or Yes: What kinds of sources are mentioned?

  • Data openness, timing, and structure:

  • Dataset is available free of charge. (No, Partially, Yes)

    Supporting questions (conditional)

    If Partially: Please briefly explain your 'Partially' answer.

  • Data is openly licensed. (No, Partially, Yes)

    Supporting questions (conditional)

    If No: If there are explicit restrictions placed on re-use of the dataset, briefly describe those here.

    If Partially or Yes: If the data is provided with an explicit open license, please provide the name of the license, or a link to it here.

  • Data is available in all the country’s official or national languages. If the country has no official or national languages, data is available in the major languages of the country. (No, Partially, Yes) Assess this against the list of official, national, or in-use languages you provided as part of your response to the governance indicator that asks, "To what extent do relevant laws, regulations, policies, and guidance require that data collection and publication processes be available in the country’s official or national languages?"

    Supporting questions (conditional)

    If Partially or Yes: Please briefly describe the language coverage available.

  • There are accessible and open official tools available to help users explore data. (No, Partially , Yes) Answer 'Partially' if tools make it possible to get at extracts of data without having to download a full dataset. Answer 'Yes' if there is an interactive tool that displays user-filtered extracts of the data to answer simple questions without downloading data at all.

    Supporting questions (conditional)

    If Partially or Yes: Please provide URL.

    If Partially : What are the main barriers to accessibility and usability?

  • Data is timely and updated. (No, Partially, Yes)

    Supporting questions (conditional)

    If Partially or Yes: When was the most recent update to this dataset?

  • Historical data is available that allows users to track change over time. (No, Partially, Yes)

    Supporting questions (conditional)

    If Partially: Please briefly explain your 'Partially' answer.

    If Partially or Yes: For what time period(s) (e.g., start and end dates) is data available?

  • Data is provided in machine-readable format(s) (No, Partially, Yes)

    Supporting questions (conditional)

    If Partially or Yes: Please provide a URL where this machine-readable data can be found. (Additional URLs can be included in the justification and supporting evidence)

    If Partially or Yes: Please provide a comma separated list of the formats available? (E.g. csv, json)

    If Partially: What prevents you from assessing this data as fully machine-readable?

  • The machine-readable dataset is available as a whole (No, Partially, Yes) Answer no if it's only possible to access individual records; Answer partially if it's possible to export extracts of the data; Answer yes if there are bulk downloads or APIs providing access to the whole dataset without financial, technical or legal barriers.

    Supporting questions (conditional)

    If Partially or Yes: Please provide a URL where bulk download access is available or described.

    If Partially or Yes: If bulk access is provided through an API, please provide a link to where the API is described.

    If Partially: Please briefly explain your 'Partially' answer.

  • Negative scoring:

  • This information is missing required data. (There is no evidence of data gaps., There is evidence that a portion of mandated data is missing., There is evidence of widespread omissions in mandated data.) In cases where the indicator itself identifies a dataset(s) to assess against or a separate governance indicator has asked you to determine data requirements of a relevant governing framework, assess against that. In cases where there is no such identified dataset(s) or related governance indicator, assess based on the parameters laid out in the publication of the information (e.g., are some fields entirely empty when they shouldn't be?), your local knowledge (e.g., if the data is supposed to include information for all public officials, does the number of total entries look right?), and any broader research you may have done for this theme (e.g., have media articles decried the incompleteness of the data?).

    Supporting questions (conditional)

    If There is evidence that a portion of mandated data is missing. or There is evidence of widespread omissions in mandated data.: Please briefly explain.

  • The availability of this data has been affected by government response to COVID-19. (No, Partially, Yes)

    Supporting questions (conditional)

    If Partially or Yes: Please briefly describe how COVID-19 affected the availability of this data.

Extent

  • How comprehensive is the data assessed for this question?

    • The data assessed covers one or more localities, but there are many other localities without available data, or with data of a lesser quality.
      Supporting questions: Which locality does this data cover?
    • The data assessed covers one or more localities, and is a representative example of the kind of data that can be found for most but not all localities.
      Supporting questions: Which localities does this data cover?
    • The data assessed provides national coverage.

  • How comprehensive is the data available in terms of types of land uses? Answer that the data available covers 'one or a limited number of land uses' if you have only found data on particular land uses (e.g., information on protected areas or mining zones may be released in a single dataset by the agency in charge). Answer that data covers 'the majority or all relevant land uses in the country' when you can confirm that data covers most or all of the relevant land use categories in your country.

    • The dataset(s) available cover one or a very limited number of land uses.
      Supporting questions: Which land uses are covered by the dataset(s) available?
    • The dataset(s) available cover a wide range of land uses, but not the majority of them.
      Supporting questions: Which land uses are covered by the dataset(s) available?
    • The dataset(s) available cover the majority or all relevant land uses in the country.
      Supporting questions: Which land uses are covered by the dataset(s) available?

Good governance in land use is critical to achieving goals related to socioeconomic development, maintaining ecological systems, and enabling adaptation to climate change (Quan 2017). International organizations have identified effective land use and management as key for achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and addressing issues such as desertification, food security, and employment and migration challenges.

Both land use restrictions as well as land use decision-making processes should be transparent, efficient, and predictable (Deininger et al. 2011). Thus, the Food and Agriculture Organization encourages states to conduct regulated spatial planning and monitor and enforce compliance with those plans. This should be done in a manner that promotes diverse and well-balanced sustainable territorial development, taking into consideration the variety of tenure systems, as well as particular issues such as the gendered aspects of land use andindigenous peoples' land rights and uses (FAO 2012).

When used in conjunction with land tenure or land ownership data, land use data opens up avenues for addressing environmental issues, corruption, land access, food sovereignty, housing, health, and a plethora of other challenges.

This indicator focuses on current and historical land use data, with special attention to forest and protected areas.