Land use changes and bioenergy in Latvia
2014
Melece, L., Latvian State Inst. of Agrarian Economics, Riga (Latvia). Dept. of Quality and Environmental Protection | Lakovskis, P., Latvian State Inst. of Agrarian Economics, Riga (Latvia). Dept. of Rural Development Evaluation
The paper presents results of studies devoted to the changes of land use caused by implementation of bioenergy policy in Latvia. The period of 2007-2012 was chosen and chiefly data on declared utilised agricultural area on municipal and region level from the Rural Support Service were used for assessment of land use changes. In Latvia, utilised agricultural areas (UAA), which is mainly used for bioenergy feedstocks production - rape and maize for silage - are located in the territories/regions (Zemgale and Kurzeme) with the highest proportion of agricultural lands and the highest soil fertility. The growing trends in these regions are statistically significant. The biogas plants are also located in these territories. Meanwhile, slight but decreasing tendency of the share of unused UAA in all regions, except Latgale, was observed. Moreover, the share in Latgale, the most undeveloped region, increases and reached 18% in 2012. The observed changes in land use in Latvia show some contradictions to bioenergy policy which is oriented to: returning the unused agricultural land in the production of feedstock; improving the quality of the environment, particularly, biodiversity and the landscape; and encouraging rural development.
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