Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
The main objective of building this AEnZ was therefore to stratify Europe on the
main biophysical factors that determine the agronomic production capacity in
Europe. Furthermore, the variation in environment also needs to be taken into account
when assessing the impacts of agriculture on water, soil, air, climate, biodiversity
and landscape. Overall it is clear that we can distinguish zones in Europe, according
to a rough division, where agricultural activities are very much limited by climatic,
soil and/or other topographic factors, while in other areas the natural factors
provide good opportunities for a wide range of agricultural activities or specific
types of agriculture. Within these coarse zones a further subdivision can be made
in units that have similar biophysical environment and therefore have the same
agricultural potential and agri-environmental problems.
Background
In the last couple of years there is a larger emphasis on assessing the impacts of
agricultural development and agricultural policies especially in relation to environ-
ment and biodiversity. This has mainly been caused by the increased pressure on
the environment, biodiversity loss and landscape degradation by agriculture in most
areas of Europe in the last decades. The impacts on environment, biodiversity and
landscape that accompanied the changes in farming have been well documented
(e.g. Buckwell and Armstrong-Brown
2004
; Wadsworth et al.
2003
; Boatman et al.
1999
; EEA
1999
; MAFF
1998
; Pretty
1998
; EPA
1999
; Campbell and Cooke
1997
;
Baldock et al.
1996)
and they are almost all negative. The main causes for this were
a continuous intensification of land use but also land abandonment. The intensifica-
tion process has been a key response of farmers to changes in markets and policies
(Common Agricultural Policy [CAP] support). This agricultural intensification
usually goes together with an increase in efficiency of the agricultural production
process but also with negative externalities on the environment in terms of habitat
loss and fragmentation, loss of landscape connectivity, loss of diversity and the
creation of monoculture, loss of habitat quality through pollution of soil, water and
air and even direct poisoning and loss of food supplies for certain species (Poiret
1999
; Pau Vall and Vidal
1999)
. At the same time not only intensification shows a
heavy impact on farmland biodiversity but also abandonment (EEA
1999
; Baldock
et al.
1996)
. This process of polarisation, in which abandonment and an increase in
stocking density occur simultaneously in different locations, poses a threat to
biodiversity in semi-natural areas created by extensive livestock farming.
On the other hand it should also be emphasized that the relationship between
farming and environment is not only a negative one. The continuation of extensive
farming practices plays a key role in conserving farmland biodiversity and this is
the key factor for introducing the concept of High Nature Value farming and targeting
these type of systems and associated areas in the most recent Rural Development
program of the EC. The assumed positive relationship between extensive farming
practices and biodiversity values is the main reason why these farming systems are
