The purpose of this study is to clarify the conservation-oriented landscape planning process based on geo-ecological background studies, which can be taken concrete shape by the classification of land unit and land use unit and the ecological land evaluation.
First of all concepts concerning landscape planning process were discussed. Landscape planning can be defined as planning system for the promotion of land use planning procedure while making the most effective use of land potentiality. Landscape planning in this meaning, plays an important part in overall and sectional planning for the presentation of proposal or recommendation from a geo-ecological standpoint. It also should be considered as a main planning instrument in natural region such as national park and nature reserve to accomplish the nature conservation or recreation planning.
Conservation of landscape which is mainly composed of land, land use and their functional relationship is the final goal of landscape planning, therefore the most important subject of the plannig, is to seek optimal future land uses adapted to land characteristics.
Secondary the author proposed concrete landscape planning method based on ecological land evaluation. As a result of consideration on the interaction between land and land use, it became to be important to integrate land elements as land unit taking efficiency for land use into account and at thl same time to set up land use unit to connect with land unit. Concerning land unit the author proposed “potential natural vegetation and landform” oriented land classification as a sort of bio-physical land classification, while land use unit can be obtained by “degree of substitutional vegetation and land use form”-oriented land use classification as a sort of ecological land use classification. Accord ing to this classification method land unit and land use unit can be related with each other through actual vegetation as a intermediate factor.
Contemporary functional relationship between land and land use can be summarized in ecological matrix of actual state, which makes possible to point out the problems of the interaction between the two. Ecological land evaluation is to be performed by class-ordering of land capability for land use presented by ecological evaluation matrix or other procedures. Results of land evaluation present optimal land use selection for each land unit or optimal site selection for particular land use purpose.
In addition to such considerations, extraction of dominant land use which is prior to other land use demands from a standpoint of landscape conservation, establishment of evaluation level and inquiry of planning conditions are necessary for the proposal of zoning plan or landscape plan. Although land use planning has usually aimed intensive utilization of land and accordingly brought the lowering of naturality in planning area, it is necessary in landscape planning to consider the compensation treatment through eco-engineering against deterioration of naturality in the area.
This sort of approach seems to get much importance under the critical circumstances for the development planning in Japan.

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