Land reclamation is either of two distinct practices. One involves a change from an area's natural state, the other restoring an area to a more natural state.
Creating new land
Land reclamation is the creation of new land where there was once water. Notable examples include the city of Washington, DC (which is built on land that was once swamp) and the polders of the Netherlands. The southern Chinese cities of Hong Kong and Macau and the city-state of Singapore are also famous for their efforts on land reclamation. The most ambitious and impressive however, is the Palm Islands and The World off Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.
Repairing damaged land
Land reclamation is also the process of cleaning up a site that has sustained environmental damage. This can be done to allow for some form of human use (such as a housing development) or to restore the area to its natural state as a wildlife habitat.
The surrounding hillsides had been used for slash-and-burn agriculture, and the basin was clogged with silt and invasive plants.
However, on the east coast, poor management practices and lack of access to appropriate technologies have led to the abandonment of large tracts of prime rice paddy.
Farmers have resorted to the slash-and-burn rice cultivation on the surrounding hillsides that have severely damaged the environment.
Notable examples include the cities of Washington, DC (which is built on land that was once swamp) and Boston, MA in the USA and the polders of the Netherlands.
Land reclamation is the creation of agricultural or inhabitable land, generally through irrigation.
Land reclamation (also called land rehabilitation) is also the process of cleaning up a site that has sustained environmental degradation, such as strip mining.
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