Regarding research as a land use

Although missing as a land use category in all or most land classification systems,many land designation systems recognize research as the primary use of specificland areas. Research lands may he extensive and take up large areas; they mayalso he widespread systems of smaller designated sites that cover a significanttotal area. They are designated at the scale of international, national, subnationaland smaller systems. New Mexico and Oregon, USA, illustrate extensivedesignation of lands for research purposes, including the variety of types andscales of research lands. In New Mexico, over a million hectares of land have beendesignated for research. This amounts to about 3.3 per cent of the state's area.Recognition of research as a land use, and of lands designated for research orscientific purposes, opens up many topics for further investigation.