Abstract. The language is a means to communicate about the world and to render it meaningful. This paper demonstrates the practical relevance of language in applied geography, using the example of potential land use conflicts in aTicino region (Malcantone). The project discusses the planning problems related to the spontaneous growth of forests on reverted land. The authors have studied this process in the basis of the legal definition of woodland, considering the period from 1945–83, and have defined potential problem and conflict areas (e. g. between building and afforestion zones). Linguistic difficulties arose on various levels: during the survey (when the data was prepared for a Geographical Information System) and during the translation of the analytical description into the regional language. As the project is now being realised, the cultural dimension of language becomes apparent.This study has in fact encouraged the authors to reflect on their own language (the metaphors of the legal definition of woodlands). Their conclusion is that geographers ought to create new languages in order to arrive at an integral planning of our living space.