Abstract

The land is a critical resource that provides food for a burgeoning population of about 7 billion supports livelihoods and is important for sustainable development Growing demands for food feed fuel fiber and raw materials create local as well as remote pressures for land-use change Lambin and Meyfroidt 2011 The cascade of outcomes resulting from these demands is complicated by urbanization and globalization Barles 2010 Kissinger and Rees 2010 Climate change is an additional stress that will exacerbate the pressure on land as there is a conflict between goals related to production and those related to conservation and climate change mitigation In light of this the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations UNDP 2015 have recognized the need for integration of human development and the environment as mutually reinforcing development goals