Land Conservation Strategies - Assessed Project Work 01 - Group 16

Land Conservation Strategies.

From early ages, people had a relationship with the land in order to fulfill their needs of shelter, defensive purposes, storing purposes which were enhanced with the time with extensive changes because of agriculture, growth of population, transportation and other activities of human. People use the land in various ways managing its resources. Because of the usage of the land and its covering for a long time period, numerous disasters may occur where certain conservation strategies are required to taken to conserve the land.

What is Land Conservation?   

Land conservation can be considered as a process of protecting the natural land and taking the required actions to protect the damaged and developed land areas to a better state.  The conservation of land holds an important and a significant position in an economy as it opens the path for sustainable development in a country as well as in economy. Land conservation is vital for the future of the people as it provides so many benefits such as food, shelter, recreation, clean air etc. Several Land conservation and protecting strategies can be taken in order to preserve and conserve the land.

Land Conservation Strategies.

Several strategies can be taken to conserve the land. They can be either natural or man made strategies. Comparatively to the distroyed amount of the land various types of methods and techniques are required to utilize in order to conserve the land for the current and future generation. The most common techniques which are identified are;

v  Using land covers

Land cover is the physical cover of earths surface. It can be either natural or man made. It includes trees, grass, water, wet lands, buildings, pavements etc.

v  Protecting native vegetation

v  Replanting native vegetation

v  Using retaining walls

v  Preservation

It is the method which protects the original form of the land by preventing consumption by human beings.

v  Restoration

It is the process of returning the original, natural form of the land again after considering historical and past conditions of the land before it was utilized and destroyed by humans.

v  Remediation

It is the process of cleaning and restoring contaminated and destroyed parts of earth with non-destructive methods.

v  Mitigation

It is the process of replacing a destroyed land area in a different location with the same ecological value.

Among the above strategies using land covers is the most common and the highly utilized strategy which is used to prevent the damages on earth, errosion on soil and other disasters.

Ø  Land covers can be simply defined as the physical surface of the earth. It is an important element as it is one of the most important thing as it protects the land from disasters and protect it. Land covers can be either natural or  man made.

Natural land covers:

• ·         Grass covers
• ·         Water
• ·         Wet lands
• ·         Trees bare ground
• ·         Water ways

Man made land covers:

• ·         Pavements
• ·         Roads
• ·         Buildings
• ·         Land tiling
• ·         Concreting

Land Conservation Strategies in University of Moratuwa

In University of Moratuwa certain strategies are taken in order to conserve the land and protect it. Usage of land covers, restoration techniques, remediation techniques, retaining walls, are some of the identified methods which are used within the University premises. Mostly land covers could be identified either natural or man-made.

•  Grass lands are the most common land cover which could been identified in several places. In certain places there were natural as well as man made grass lands with the purpose of protecting the land.

• Concrete blocks and pavements are also can be seen as a mean of protective method to conserve land. While providing aesthetic appearance to the premises of the university, it act as an element to conserve the land from destroying.

                  

                                     

• Also trees, bushes could be identified along the road side which can be considered as an another type of land covering which was being used as a strategy to protect the land. But a large area filled with many number of trees was hard to recognize in University premises which is very disadvantageous for the land, aesthetic appearance, health of the people as well as for the nature. In open theater area, kaju kale are some of the areas where comparatively high number of trees can be seen although it has been highly reduced which has lead the land to get destroyed.

              

• In University premises, buildings were identified mostly which can also be considered as a land cover. Some buildings were not maintained properly which can cause in the durability of the buildings. Adequate care must be provided in order to make them durable. 

Considering the data we have gathered from the research within the university premises, different strategies could be identified which were taken to conserve the land. Most of them were man made land covers and the availability of natural land covers were considerably low which will affect the nature and people both and destroy the land. In order to prevent deterioration of the land, strategies to conserve the land must be taken as soon as possible without anymore delaying.

Group Members

Karunarathna T.A.D.C.D                                           162421M

Perera J.K.D.S                                                            162430N

Perera P.A.L.P                                                            162431T

Senarath P.A.N.B                                                       162692R

Sivasangeetha V                                                         162673K