**6. Conclusions – proposals**

From the preceded analysis, it can be concluded that regarding Greece an increase of forest area in mountainous regions has been observed and an expansion of forest vegetation due to the cessation of farming activities, whereas in areas around urban centers (mainly around the capital), in islands or areas of a tourist interest, a significant decline in forest vegetation can be observed. The great frequency of forest fires, overgrazing, the scattered and out of city plan building and creation of traffic infrastructures are the main causes of deforestation in Greece. The lack of forest maps and cadastre is an important factor contributing to deforestation, as it favors tresspassing and illegal housing development of woodlands and the creation of arbitrary structures within them. This phenomenon is naturally based on legislative and administrative deficiencies relating to both forest protection and spatial planning. Thus, extensive areas of mixing forests with residential areas have been created, where the most frequent and most destructive fires occur. In the spring of 2011 the first 3 maps were posted and are now in the process of submitting complaints concerning the status of lands (forest or not) aiming to create forest maps and a forest cadastre for the entire country (already maps are being

Seed Plantations (No)

Road openings (km)

Expenditure current prices

Planted saplings (No)

1976 - 1982 5,481.1 3,154,480 159,102 234.67 130 1983 - 1990 2,546.9 1,746,650 88,470 82.43 7,622 1991 - 2000 3,533.5 1,991,745 93,100 46.68 14,702 **Total 1976-2000 11,561.5 6,892,875 340,672 363.77 22,453**  2001 - 2008 1,361 912,704 0 2.93 4,654,000

Apart from reforestations, under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), the measure of afforestation of agricultural land is being implemented since 1992 (Reg. 2080/1992 and Reg. 1257/99). According to this measure, owners of marginal productivity agricultural land are encouraged to transform it into forest land by planting forest tree species. This way, the afforested area in the EU (and Greece) increases with favorable consequences on global warming and on increasing biodiversity, slopes become effectively protected and nonproductive lands get withdrawn from production. Beneficiaries of this measure, receive subsidizes to cover planting and maintenance costs for up to 5 years after planting tree species, support for the construction of windbreaks, fire lanes and an annual support payment per hectare afforested (up to 20 years) to cover income losses resulting from land

In Greece, the implementation of Regulation EEC/2080/92 from 1993 to 2001 resulted in the establishment of 35,840 Ha of forest plantations mainly of *Robinia pseudoacacia* L (black locust*), Populus sp* (poplar) and *Juglans regia* (walnut) (Arabatzis *et al*., 2006, Chalikias and

From the preceded analysis, it can be concluded that regarding Greece an increase of forest area in mountainous regions has been observed and an expansion of forest vegetation due to the cessation of farming activities, whereas in areas around urban centers (mainly around the capital), in islands or areas of a tourist interest, a significant decline in forest vegetation can be observed. The great frequency of forest fires, overgrazing, the scattered and out of city plan building and creation of traffic infrastructures are the main causes of deforestation in Greece. The lack of forest maps and cadastre is an important factor contributing to deforestation, as it favors tresspassing and illegal housing development of woodlands and the creation of arbitrary structures within them. This phenomenon is naturally based on legislative and administrative deficiencies relating to both forest protection and spatial planning. Thus, extensive areas of mixing forests with residential areas have been created, where the most frequent and most destructive fires occur. In the spring of 2011 the first 3 maps were posted and are now in the process of submitting complaints concerning the status of lands (forest or not) aiming to create forest maps and a forest cadastre for the entire country (already maps are being

Year Reforested

Table 7. Reforestation projects in Attica

use change (Christopoulou, 2001).

**6. Conclusions – proposals** 

Christopoulou., 2010 ).

land (Ha)

prepared for 107 regions corresponding to 190,000 Ha), in order to resolve the complex ownership regime regarding forestlands in Greece and lead us to efficient spatial planning and effective environmental and forest policy.

Regarding policies to increase forest area, they focus on reforestations materiazed by the Forest Service, and the implementation of the EU Regulation on afforestation of marginal agricultural land.

Finally, for the protection of forest ecosystems in general as well as, specifically, in order to protect them from their main enemies (grazing, fire and subsequent change of use), the implementation of the following is necessary:


Particular attention, sparingness and skepticism regarding the opening up of a dense road network in forests.

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**4** 

*Coimbra Portugal* 

Adélia Nobre Nunes

**Soil Erosion Under Different Land Use and** 

**Cover Types in a Marginal Area of Portugal** 

*CEGOT, Departamento de Geografia, Faculdade de Letras, Universidade de Coimbra,* 

According to the CORINE programme, Spain and Portugal are the Mediterranean countries in the European Union facing the greatest risk of erosion (Desir & Marín, 2007). In Portugal, areas at high risk of erosion cover almost one third of the country (Grimm et al., 2002). The main causes of soil erosion are inappropriate agricultural practices, land abandonment, deforestation, overgrazing, forest fires and construction activities (Grimm et al., 2002; Yassoglou et al., 1998). Several studies in the Mediterranean region have addressed the present-day hydrological response and erosion rates for arable and marginal land affected by land abandonment (Casermeiro et al., 2004; García-Ruiz et al., 1995, 1996; Nunes et al., 2010, 2011; Nunes, 2007; Pardini et al., 2002, 2003; Romero-Díaz, 2003; Ruiz-Flaño et al., 1992), forest fires (Cammeraat & Imeson, 1999; Coelho et al., 2002, 2004; Doerr et al., 2000; Ferreira et al., 2005; Ferreira, 1990; Ferreira, 1996; Imeson et al., 1992; Shakesby et al., 1993, 1996) and afforestation (Ferreira, 1996; Ternan et al., 1997; Thomas et al., 2000; Shakesby et al., 2002). The results show wide variations in runoff generation and sediment yield, mainly depending on environmental conditions, vegetation cover, changes in previous land use, the

In Portugal, as well as in many other Mediterranean countries, the main type of land use was rainfed cereal crops until the middle of the twentieth century. After the introduction of modern agriculture, the opening up of the international markets and the lowering of crop prices, market-oriented cultivation of cereals became unprofitable in most marginal areas in Portugal. In addition, socio-economic and political changes in Portugal in the 1970s led to higher agricultural wages and migration from the countryside (Pinto-Correia & Mascarenhas, 1999). Thus, abandoned farmlands became evident, very often in marginal, mountainous or semi-mountainous areas and areas that were difficult to access, in which traditional or semi-traditional agriculture was practised until recent decades, involving low input and intensive human labour. Abandonment implied the extensive decline of arable land and resulted in very important transformations to the landscape, characterised by the

Additionally, the EU's Common Agricultural Policy recognises the natural handicaps of such areas and their association with depopulation and land abandonment through its structural support for 'Less-Favoured Areas' (Regulation 950/97). Around eighty per cent of

spread of natural vegetation, including both shrub land and forest.

**1. Introduction** 

period of soil abandonment, etc.

