An Assessment and Spatial Modelling of Agricultural Land Abandonment in Spain (2015–2030)

Carolina Perpiña Castillo, Eloína Coll Aliaga, Carlo Lavalle and José Carlos Martínez Llario
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Carolina Perpiña Castillo: European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), 21027 Ispra, Italy
Eloína Coll Aliaga: Department of Cartographic Engineering, Geodesy and Photogrammetry, Universitat Politècnica de València, Camino de Vera, s/n, 46022 Valencia, Spain
Carlo Lavalle: European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), 21027 Ispra, Italy
José Carlos Martínez Llario: Department of Cartographic Engineering, Geodesy and Photogrammetry, Universitat Politècnica de València, Camino de Vera, s/n, 46022 Valencia, Spain

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 2, 1-23

Abstract: This article presents a study based on the outputs from the LUISA Territorial modelling platform (Joint Research Centre of the European Commission) focused on regional and local future projections of land abandonment between 2015 and 2030. Spain is taken as representative of one of the countries highly affected by agricultural land abandonment in the European Union. The most relevant factors driving land abandonment (biophysical, agroeconomics, farm structure and demographic) are described and mapped. Results from the analysis reveal that the Galicia region, northern Spain (Asturias, Cantabria, Gipuzkoa, Bizkaia), north-eastern Spain (Aragón region), central Pyrenees/Ebro basin (Huesca, Navarra, Lleida) and south-eastern Spain (Murcia, Almería, Alicante, Málaga) are expected to undergo important abandonment processes. The study also concludes that land abandonment within mountainous, high nature value farmland and Natura 2000 areas is lower compared to the outside area without conservation and protection measures.

Keywords: agricultural land abandonment; land-use modelling; Spain; risk map; policy layers; LUISA platform (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (13)

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