Ecological land-use planning and carrying capacity evaluation in the Jalapa region (Veracruz, Mexico)

A practical approach for the inclusion of environmental factors in land-use planning is presented. The Jalapa region, an area of 4750 km² which embraces a diversity of ecological conditions, is used to illustrate the approach. Data were gathered from aerial photographs, a survey of maize fields and interviews of farmers concerning their cultivation practices.

After devising a climatic and geomorphological system of land classification, 33 land types were identified, described and inventoried; 58 land-use systems were identified and described. The descriptions were structured to predict the income, employment, costs, food production, agricultural chemical inputs and erosion that could be expected for each land-use system on each land type. This information was used to devise a multi-objective land-use game for planners. Users of the game may set priorities on their planning objectives, specify the amounts of agricultural services available, and see the effects these have on optimal allocation of the available land of each type among the different possible uses, as well as how well the objectives are satisfied by the allocation.

By shifting objective priorities and varying infrastructure levels, the game user may examine the trade-offs among planning goals and among possible avenues of investment or other management interventions. A study of the environmental cost of producing increasing amounts of food for a growing population in the Jalapa region illustrates the game's usefulness, and actual land allocations in the Jalapa region are compared with optimal allocations under different priorities. The carrying capacity of the region is examined from this point of view, giving particular attention to the demands that increasingly urban habits of consumption may place on the land and to the role properly directed technology can play in increasing carrying capacity without causing environmental damage.