Integrated land management or Integrated watershed management?

In the beginning, unknown variables and the environment controlled the nature of human settlements. But, today, the uncontrolled expansion of human settlements is modifying the environment and seriously threatening the sustainability of the whole lands. In this regard, the present study examines the plans and objectives of Integrated Land Management (ILM) and Integrated Watershed Management (IWM) in order to select and introduce an appropriate planning model for planners and policy makers. ILM is a science that combines the knowledge of local communities, indigenous peoples and all people who benefit from the environment and also derived from the natural and social sciences. The advanced state of ILM is IWM, which has comprehensive view and focuses on analyzing the results in the long run. In fact, IWM is a new concept and a new approach to planning, development, water resources management and vegetation with special emphasis on economic, social and environmental issues that seek to create participatory solutions in these areas. The purpose of this approach and this solution is to create integration and coordination in the management of natural resources and social resources of the watersheds in the form of people-centered programs. The main difference between IWM and ILM is that IWM emphasizes watershed strategic planning, based on the knowledge of the watershed, action to definition the macro strategies of the watershed, and puts a variety of strategic plans and management responses to improve watershed health on the agenda of its strategic committee. Therefore, IWM eliminates the shortcomings and limitations of ILM and is introduced to programmers as a suitable planning model.