042 | LAND USE

land use

Present agricultural production is not sustainable. Agricultural land is being used much too intensively leading to degradation of soils, and pollution of ground and surface waters. Furthermore, the consumption of agricultural products in Europe puts pressure on the available agricultural land of developing countries, which is needed to feed their own population sustainably. Sustainable land use in Europe implies equitable trade between continents, ecological agricultural practices and support of nature conservation. The environmental space for land is based on the area needed to feed a country's population. The patterns of land use and the resulting pressures on land and soil resources outlined have implications for future demands on and distribution of available land surface areas.

balancing imports and exports of land

From a global perspective, taking into account the underlying principle of equity in the environmental space concept, it seems justified to demand that Europeans should live within their space (in the direct meaning of the word). This approach implies that the import and export of products requiring use of land should be balanced. This condition is compatible with the views of development experts who support greater self sufficiency in food production as a basis for food security in Third World countries. It does not, however, imply a demand for an end to trade. It simply requires the external trade of Europe to be balanced in terms of the area of land used (or with a more sophisticated approach, in terms of the productive capacity of land used, given the greater fertility of much European land).

In 1990, in effect, Europe imported some 276,410 km2 of land area, or approximately 0.08 hectares per capita. The total export is 155,470 km2. There was a small net export of pasture land, and a large net import of arable land, including land used for production of animal fodder. The overall net import by Europe of agricultural area amounted to 120,940 km2 (approximately 0.037 ha/cap).

The Sustainable Europe study treated land-use as a continental resource, and the table below is based on this simplistic approach. It also highlights that a healthy diet could be produced for all Europeans on less agricultural land than would be available under such a scenario.


Resource	Present use per cap p.a.	Target 2010 per cap p.a.	Target 2010 (%)	Possible Use per cap p.a. (1)
Land
Total	0.726 ha	0.640 ha	-12 %
Arable	0.237 ha	0.150 ha	-37 %	0.100
Pasture	0.167 ha	0.113 ha	-32 %	0.090 ha
Net import of agricultural land (2)	0.037 ha	0.018 ha	-50 %	0.000 ha
Unprotected woodland	0.164 ha	0.138 ha	-16 %	0.138 ha
Protected area	0.003 ha	0.061 ha	+2000 %	0.061 ha

1 Based on the area needed to feed a country's population with a healthy diet and assuming a reduction of current losses: today food production exceeds consumption by a factor of 1.7. In the longer term this inefficiency factor could be reduced to 1.3.
2 The net import can be reduced by increasing exports or reducing imports.

Overview of actual consumption and targets for 2010 for land use in the European Union

ecological farming fulfls dietary needs

To achieve sustainable land use it is necessary that agriculture is totally reoriented towards ecological farming methods. This also implies that the unbalanced import of animal fodder should stop by 2010. Average yield values for various crops under ecological farming did not exist when this study was undertaken, and possible yields, therefore, were estimated. Today, comparative studies of conventional and ecological farming methods suggest that 0 to 10 per cent lower yields must be expected from ecological farming. An assumption of a 10 per cent average yield reduction compared to current unsustainable farming methods was used. On this basis, it is calculated that, across the EU in 2010, a fertile arable area of 0.102 ha/cap is needed for the cultivation of vegetable products for domestic consumption. For the production of high protein animal foodstuffs, 0.047 ha/cap is required. Another 0.113 ha/cap of permanent pasture is needed to supply animal products for consumption.

The basic dietary needs used as a basis for the calculations in this scenario are recommendations for healthy nutrition by the German Society for Nutrition. However, they exclude a range of non-temperate agricultural products for which there is also a real demand. It is assumed that 50 per cent of the current estimate of additional arable area in countries outside the Union (net import) remains indirectly exploited by EU consumers in 2010. This area is an additional area of 0.0185 hectares per capita. In the longer term a balancing flow of land 'export' should be achieved.

Following these recommendations a sustainable agricultural system can be realised that fulfils the dietary needs of the population in 2010. This would leave the remaining agricultural land (163,892 km2; 0.047 ha/cap) which could be used for biomass production for a range of purposes, e.g. the cultivation of renewable raw materials, for energy or industrial purposes (eg fibres), or foodstuffs for export (allowing for a fair global balance of productive land capacity).

Ecological farming is understood as defined in the basic rules of ecological farming for agriculture in the EU, published in the Official Journal of the European Community No L 198/ of 22/07/91

protecting our soil

The table below shows that soil degradation is a problem that extends beyond developing countries. In Europe as a whole (including the European regions of the former USSR) degradation of soils by contamination, acidification, wind and water erosion and physical damage (e.g. compaction) affects 2,189,000 km2 or 23 per cent of the total land area. Within the EU this equates to 512,486 km2 (or 0.14 ha/cap).


Type of soil degradation	Area	Notes
Degraded land
Total area degraded	2,189,000 km2	Whole of Europe, including European regions of the former USSR. Equivalent to total area of former EU12.
Extremely degraded	31,000 km2	Completely lost to agriculture. Equivalent to area of Belgium.
Severely degraded	107,000 km2	Major engineering necessary to sucessfully restore full productivity.
Moderately degraded)	1,444,000 km2	In urgent need of decontamination to prevent irreversible damage in the future.
Lightly degraded	606,000 km2	Evidence of reduced yields clear. Complete regeneration possible.

Note: Includes contamination, acidification, wind and water erosion, physical damage. Area covered includes the European regions of the former USSR.

Soil degradation in Europe

It is also assumed that areas currently classified as extremely degraded will not be available for agricultural exploitation in 2010. This is due to persistent contamination and the time required for conversion from conventional to ecological farming. This amounts to about 31,000 km2 (0.009 ha/cap) of land surface in the EU, a loss of 1.4 per cent of available area.

more land for nature in the european union

The World Conservation Organisation (IUCN) recommends that 10 per cent of the total land area should he fully protected for nature conservation. Fully protected areas, corresponding with IUCN categories I-III, currently cover only 8,790 km2 in the EU: just 0.4 per cent of the total area. Increasing this area to 10 per cent will necessarily limit the availability of land for other purposes. In this study it has been assumed that the increase in protected area for nature conservation will be achieved principally through the diversion of agricultural, forest and 'other' land.