KAZALCI OKOLJA

Key message
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The structure and the use of agricultural land largely reflect sustainable and rational management of space and natural resources, the effects of socio-economic factors and the impacts/consequences of administrative measures. The indicator presents the agricultural land use changes in the period of 2009–2018 and shows markedly unfavourable trend due to the continuation of sealing of good and best agricultural land.

The process has two main characteristics:

  • The urbanization of soil/land is intensifying and thus causing irreversible soil degradation and loss of natural resources;
  • Urbanization and, above all, the sealing of best agricultural soils has both, the agricultural and environmental impacts: it reduces the possibility of self-sufficiency in food production and reduces the range of ecosystem services provided by high quality agricultural land.

Land use as an indicator represents the use and management of space and land as basic natural resource. Land use is the result of natural conditions, needs, socio-economic development of society and historical conditions. Thus, in the last two to three decades in Slovenia, the development of society and the country's integration into the EU have had a much greater impact. Industrialization and changes in urban development and transport are reflected in the growing areas occupied by these sectors in Slovenia.

The change in land use is represented by the change in land occupied by land use categories in 2002 and 2018, which are included in the regularly updated land use database of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food (MAFF, 2002-2018). Indicator KM10 is divided into four sub-indicators:

·         KM10-1: Structure of agricultural land use in the Republic of Slovenia in 2018.

·         KM10-2: Change in agricultural land by type of use in 2009-2018.

·         KM10-3: Urbanization of land by type of use in the period 2009-2018.

·         KM10-4: Soil quality of urbanized land in the period 2002-2018.

In addition to the basic categories (see Methodology section), an analysis of urbanization of land, i.e. land converted from other land uses to urban, i.e. built-up and related land, was also undertaken (Figure KM10-3).

The term urbanization of land refers to the expansion of urban areas into adjacent, agricultural, forestry or (semi)natural land uses. Urbanization is mostly a negative process for soil. It encompasses a wide range of soil degradation (complete sealing, mixing, compaction, pollution) that alters the soil, reduces the soil's ability to perform agricultural and ecological functions, affects the cycling of materials and energy in the environment, and, often polluted, poses a risk to human health. Physical removal or sealing represents the destruction of soil and thus the permanent reduction of the environmental functions of soil. As urban the following is considered:

i)     Land adjacent to buildings that is altered to a greater or lesser extent during construction (e.g. removal of upper A horizons or mixed horizons - the quality of such soils is usually significantly reduced) is considered to be built on; and

ii)    'covered' land with, for example, canopies and bridges that reduce the performance of soil ecological functions.

Fully built-up land is land that is covered by a building or infrastructure facility - the soil now only performs the function of a supporting medium) and the soil has been stripped down to the topsoil (quarries, gravel pits, clay pits).

Urbanization of soil reduces the ability to provide at least one of the essential ecological soil services (biomass production and nutrient cycling, filtration/purification of surface and meteoric water, decomposition and sequestration binding of pollutants, retention and sequestration of atmospheric CO2), and development usually terminates these services.

Soil quality is a complex indicator that defines in one number the essential property of soil - fertility and at the same time the ability to provide soil ecosystem services. Soil quality is defined by the average soil quality index (SQI), expressed in points ranging from 1 (worst) to 100 (best). SQI is therefore a reflection of the assessment of agricultural and ecological soil quality.


Charts

Figure KM10-1: Structure of agricultural land use in Slovenia in 2018
Sources:

MAFF, 2009, 2011, 2015, 2018; calculations by AIS

Show data
Meadows[ha] Fields and gardens[ha] Orchards[ha] Vineyards[ha] Hop fields[ha] Olive plantations[ha] Overgrown cultivated land   [ha] Mixed land use[ha] Less present agricultural land uses[ha] Uncultivated agricultural land[ha] Forest and other tree and bushes overgrown surfaces[ha] Built-up land and related[ha] Natural and semi-natural land uses[ha] Surface waters [ha] Meadows[%] Fields and gardens[%] Orchards[%] Vineyards[%] Hop fields[%] Olive plantations[%] Overgrown cultivated land   [%] Mixed land use[%] Less present agricultural land uses[%] Uncultivated agricultural land[%] Forest and other tree and bushes overgrown surfaces[%] Built-up land and related[%] Natural and semi-natural land uses[%] Surface waters [%]
2018 354850 181545 32517 18625 1894 2354 24746 34469 1046 11391 1206151 112351 31976 14278 53.49 27.36 4.90 2.81 0.29 0.35 3.73 5.20 0.16 1.72
Figure KM10-2: Change in the agricultural land area by type of use in the period 2009–2018
Sources:

MAFF, 2009, 2011, 2015, 2018; calculations by AIS

Show data
2009–2018 [ha] 2009–2018 [%]
Meadows -22555 -0.06
Fields and gardens -151 0.00
Orchards 6990 0.22
Vineyards -3708 -0.20
Hop fields -199 -0.11
Olive plantations 732 0.31
Overgrown cultivated land   3142 0.13
Mixed land use 15729 0.46
Less present agricultural land uses 264 0.25
Uncultivated agricultural land 10258 0.90
Forest and other tree and bushes overgrown surfaces -21403 -0.02
Built-up land and related 4845 0.04
Natural and semi-natural land uses 1319 0.04
Surface waters 393 0.03
Figure KM10-3: Urbanization of land by type of use in the periods between 2009–2018
Sources:

MAFF, 2009, 2011, 2015, 2018; calculations by AIS

Show data
Agricultural area [ha] Forest [ha] Natural & semi-natural [ha] Other [ha] Total [ha]
2009–2011 8648 3022 50 161 11881
2011–2013 3257 1006 18 35 4316
2013–2015 3190 779 13 25 4007
2015–2017 3848 888 29 30 4795
2017–2018 1340 387 10 9 1746
Figure KM10-4: Quality of urbanized soil in the period 2002–2018
Sources:

AIS, Centre for Soil and Environment, 2018

Show data
High quality soil (TS > 54) [%] Medium quality soil (TS 29 - 53) [%] Low quality soil (TS <= 28) [%]
2002–2009 42.90 35.90 21.20
2009–2018 40.80 43.90 15.30
Quality of soils in Slovenia 28.91 50.29 20.80

Goals

Soil sealing is identified as a significant threat to soil in the resolution at National Environmental Protection Program (2005), in the EU Thematic Strategy for Soil Protection (2002, 2006) and in other FAO and EU documents. Reducing the amount of urbanization of high-quality agricultural soils/land (i.a. rational environmental planning), sustainable management of natural resources (soil, water and minerals) and maintenance and creation of cultural landscapes must become important objectives of agricultural land use policy, spatial planning, environmentally sustainable economic development and the protection and sustainable management of important natural resources.

 


 

 

 

 

 

 


Methodology

Date of data source summarization
Other sources and literature

SURS. 2018. Prebivalstvo in gospodinjstva v popisih, Slovenija, večletno (tabela H130S).
https://pxweb.stat.si/SiStatData/pxweb/sl/Data/-/H130S.px/table/tableViewLayout2/  

World Bank. 2018. Arable land (hectares per person).
https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/AG.LND.ARBL.HA.PC?most_recent_value_desc=false