Land use and misuse

I like to think of me more as a digital than an analog guy. But some things are analog and it is very hard, if not impossible, to digitize them. Land is one of these things.

Even though Earth is a large planet and there is plenty of land (more precisely 13 billion hectares – ha), not all land is made equal and, regardless of the reason, some are more desired/desirable/disputed than others.

Land made kings and Trumps, the lack of it made the descendants of freed slaves poor and because everybody wants some (but most want exactly the same), real state is one of the largest asset classes in the world.

Land acquisition is also the main strategy for biodiversity conservation (costing over $100 billion a year) and I’m using this example to show that, from food safety to energy safety, land is a fundamental piece of the business model and strategy. There is also no discussions on climate change mitigation or poverty reduction that neither touches or isn’t touched by land use.

That is why I thought it was important to share this illustration published by Glaucia Souza (ALive episode #12 – portuguese only) on land use and availability. You can find similar images, for example, on OurWorldInData, but I think the comparison with the size of countries makes it easier to understand and memorize the numbers. Save the link to this post to use it in further discussions on whatever topic.

I can’t help noticing, as I was reminded by Fabio Scarano (ATHPodcast episode #19) that degraded and hyposufficient pasture (the lonely cow occupying more than 1 ha – more or less the size of a soccer field) is, by far, the largest and prioritary problem to be tackled.