Reports galore

Abstract

The last few months of 2006 witnessed a flurry of reports, all of which clamoured for attention. Hare are a few snippets from two reports. The report Land accounts for Europe 1990-2000 (EEA Report 11/2006) analysed the ebb and flow of various land usages over the 10 years in review and conjured up some interesting statistics. The swathe occupied by 'Artificial Lands' (standing for developed areas) stood at 170,572 km2 in 2000, a net increase of 5.4% over the 1990 figure and comprising 4.7% of the total surface area of the 24 European countries under scrutiny in the report. The report states that the newly developed areas sprouted mostly out of arable land and permanent crops (47% - 1,942 km2) and then out of pastures and mosaics (45% - 1,867 km2). The chief drivers of new urban development were (ranked according to importance): land uptake by housing, services and recreation (ca. 500,000 ha.), land uptake by commercial and industrial sites (ca. 300,000 ha.), land uptake by mines, quarries and waste dumpsites (ca. 150,000 ha.) and land uptake by transport networks and infrastructures (ca. 30,000 ha). Forests still occupy 1,036,079 km2 (or ca. 29%) of the European surface area.