Modelling opportunities of potential European abandoned farmland to contribute to environmental policy targets

Catherine M.J. Fayet, Peter H. Verburg*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to JournalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Farmland abandonment is a major proximate driver of landscape change in European rural areas and is often followed by natural revegetation. In certain conditions, it might be preferable to prevent or reverse farmland abandonment or manage these areas towards active restoration (i.e., guided rewilding with wild or domesticated animals). These alternative responses to farmland abandonment lead to context-dependent impacts, which can potentially contribute to European Green Deal objectives for environment and rural areas. While previous studies analysed direct impacts of abandonment, there is little insight into how alternative ways of managing abandoned farmland can best contribute to environmental policy goals, and what type of management is preferred where. To assess opportunities in these areas, we compared three abandonment trajectories: natural revegetation, active restoration with rewilding, and extensive re-farming. We analysed the potential positive and negative environmental and cultural impacts of developing these management strategies in all farmland locations that could potentially be abandoned across Europe. Mapping and quantification of the benefits and risks associated with different management responses to abandonment indicate a large spatial variation across regions. While natural revegetation can support high benefits for carbon sequestration and erosion reduction, it is also linked to more frequent trade-offs than re-farming and rewilding. However, there is a very strong spatial variation in these trade-offs. It is worthwhile to focus on areas with the largest gains and fewest trade-offs when targeting investments for prevention of abandonment or rewilding. Our maps can help inform interventions in abandoned farmland to maximise the potential contributions of these lands to the European Green Deal environmental and rural policy targets.

Original languageEnglish
Article number107460
Pages (from-to)1-11
Number of pages11
JournalCatena
Volume232
Early online date19 Aug 2023
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Nov 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was supported by the project TERRANOVA the European Landscape Learning Initiative, which has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 813904. The output reflects the views only of the authors, and the European Union cannot be held responsible for any use, which may be made of the information contained therein. The authors expressed their gratitude for the data kindly shared for this research by Emma van der Zanden, Leen Felix, Clara Sueur-Ochoa and Emilo Chuvieco. The authors thank Elena Pearce and Jens-Christian Svenning for their help in designing the Rewilding trajectory. The authors are also highly grateful for the constructive discussions and feedback provided on the manuscript by Chantal Van Ham, Alberto Arroyo Schnell, and Antonia Matthies.

Funding Information:
This work was supported by the project TERRANOVA the European Landscape Learning Initiative, which has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 813904. The output reflects the views only of the authors, and the European Union cannot be held responsible for any use, which may be made of the information contained therein. The authors expressed their gratitude for the data kindly shared for this research by Emma van der Zanden, Leen Felix, Clara Sueur-Ochoa and Emilo Chuvieco. The authors thank Elena Pearce and Jens-Christian Svenning for their help in designing the Rewilding trajectory. The authors are also highly grateful for the constructive discussions and feedback provided on the manuscript by Chantal Van Ham, Alberto Arroyo Schnell, and Antonia Matthies.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Author(s)

Funding

This work was supported by the project TERRANOVA the European Landscape Learning Initiative, which has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 813904. The output reflects the views only of the authors, and the European Union cannot be held responsible for any use, which may be made of the information contained therein. The authors expressed their gratitude for the data kindly shared for this research by Emma van der Zanden, Leen Felix, Clara Sueur-Ochoa and Emilo Chuvieco. The authors thank Elena Pearce and Jens-Christian Svenning for their help in designing the Rewilding trajectory. The authors are also highly grateful for the constructive discussions and feedback provided on the manuscript by Chantal Van Ham, Alberto Arroyo Schnell, and Antonia Matthies. This work was supported by the project TERRANOVA the European Landscape Learning Initiative, which has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 813904. The output reflects the views only of the authors, and the European Union cannot be held responsible for any use, which may be made of the information contained therein. The authors expressed their gratitude for the data kindly shared for this research by Emma van der Zanden, Leen Felix, Clara Sueur-Ochoa and Emilo Chuvieco. The authors thank Elena Pearce and Jens-Christian Svenning for their help in designing the Rewilding trajectory. The authors are also highly grateful for the constructive discussions and feedback provided on the manuscript by Chantal Van Ham, Alberto Arroyo Schnell, and Antonia Matthies.

FundersFunder number
Antonia Matthies
Horizon 2020 Framework Programme
H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions813904
H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
European Commission
Horizon 2020

    Keywords

    • Abandonment trajectories
    • Agricultural abandonment
    • Biodiversity
    • European Green Deal
    • Rewilding
    • Trade-offs

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