The Land Journal


The Land was the official publication of the International Land Use Society, which merged in 2005 with the World Association of Soil and Water Conservation. Over the seven years and 21 issues of its existence, The Land published original and peer reviewed articles on all aspects of the management and use of the land for sustainable development. Although accepting papers from all countries, it focused attention on the livelihood needs from the land of the Third World, and sought to publish articles from researchers and practitioners working there. Its goal was to share information in a timely manner about people’s successes in land management; about what was working and what was worth copying in similar situations elsewhere. However, it did not shy away from sharing news of relative failures, where lessons could be learned from what was going wrong. It sought to provide ideas to make matters better, in particular for the good of the people living off the land. It maintained a low subscription fee throughout its existence, so as to encourage a wider readership in countries and with people whose finances are often in short supply.

The Chief Editor of The Land was Willy Verheye of the University of Gent, and he was assisted latterly by Robert Ridgway of the University of Greenwich. It was edited in partnership with the Natural Resources Institute, and its editorial board included staff from the Land Tenure Centre at the University of Wisconsin, the Caribbean Conservation Association in Barbados and the Department of Geography at the University of New South Wales. As the predecessor of the Journal of the WASWC, the majority of the approximately 80 papers published in The Land will shortly be placed as electronic copies alongside articles within the website of the JWASWC. By this means it is considered that the ethos of The Land will be continued by a similarly minded professional body, which seeks for world-wide sustainable land and water management through imparting competent news and advice in its Journal.