The modernisation of agriculture has increasingly focused farming activities on more fertile and accessible land, leading to a decline in traditional labour intensive practices and the abandonment of less productive agricultural land.

 

 

Examples from…

 

Estonia: During the Soviet period (1940-1991), the main land-use trends in Estonia have shown a decrease in amount of agricultural land and an increase in the share of forests. The most important driving factors of this shift have been the land reforms of 1940, 1949 and 1989 and the urbanization and concentration of agricultural production. Read more…

 

Cyprus: Both intensification and abandonment have been features of the Cypriot agricultural landscape for the past 30-50 years. As noted by Panayides (in press) the area of agricultural land on the Island has steadily decreased (down by 14.3% between 1975 and 1999) and become more intensified. Read more…

 

Romania: The Romanian agricultural landscape is populated by large numbers of small-scale farmers. In 2010, more than 90% of the farmes and over 30% of the agriculture land in Romania are managed by subsistance and semi-subsistence farmers.  In many areas these systems are threatened by abandonment or intensification. Read more…