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GEOG304 Land Evaluation

10 cp
Prerequisites GEOG100 Foundations of Physical Geography
Teaching Organisation 3 hours per week for twelve weeks or equivalent.

Soil and water constitute the essential elements to sustain human and the diverse life of flora and fauna found on this earth. Both soil and water are significant in their influence on the nature and shape of the land surface; the productivity of land; the suitability of land for agriculture, urban, recreation, mining and effluent and waste disposal purposes. The challenge for humankind is to use these resources in a sustainable manner. But, what does sustainable mean and how can sustainability be achieved?

In order to achieve Ecologically Sustainable Development (ESD) there must be in place a natural resource database and objective methodologies for evaluating the suitability and the environmental and economic impacts of land use decisions. The acquisition and processing of accurate soils, water and natural resource data and an objective methodological framework are the corner-stones of determining ESD. Students will study the incidence, impact and social cost associated with inappropriate use of land resources for development. Skills associated with collection, interpretation, collation, mapping and classification of land resource data will be developed.

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