Introduction
This Encyclopedia of Land Use, Land Cover and Soil Sciences is a component of the global Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS), which is an integrated compendium of twenty one Encyclopedias.
Land is one of our most precious assets. It represents space, provides food and shelter, stores and filters water, and it is a base for urban and industrial development, road construction, leisure and many other social activities. Land is, however not unlimited in extent, and even when it is physically available its use is not necessarily free, either because of natural limitations (too cold, too steep, too wet or too dry, etc.) or because of constraints of access or land tenure. This 7-volume set contains several chapters, each of size 5000-30000 words, with perspectives, applications and extensive illustrations. It carries state-of-the-art knowledge in the fields of Land Use, Land Cover and Soil Sciences and is aimed, by virtue of the several applications, at the following five major target audiences: University and College Students, Educators, Professional Practitioners, Research Personnel and Policy Analysts, Managers, and Decision Makers and NGOs.
Editor(s) Biography
Willy Verheye is an Emeritus Research Director at the National Science Foundation, Flanders, and a former professor in the Geography Department, University of Ghent, Belgium. He holds an M.Sc. in Physical Geography (1961), a Ph.D. in soil science (1970) and a Post-Doctoral Degree in soil science and land use planning (1980).
He has been active for more than thirty-five years both in the academic world, as a professor/ research director in soil science, land evaluation, and land use planning, and as a technical and scientific advisor for rural development projects, especially in developing countries. His research has mainly focused on the field characterization of soils and soil potentials, and on the integration of socio-economic and environmental aspects in rural land use planning. He was a technical and scientific advisor in more than 100 development projects for international (UNDP, FAO, World Bank, African and Asian Development Banks, etc.) and national agencies, as well as for development companies and NGOs active in inter-tropical regions
