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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/oct/01/revealed-europe-losing-600-football-pitches-of-nature-and-crop-land-a-day>
"Europe is losing green space that once harboured wildlife, captured carbon and
supplied food at the rate of 600 football pitches a day, an investigation by
the
Guardian and partners has revealed.
Analysis of satellite imagery across the UK and mainland Europe over a
five-year period shows the speed and scale with which green land is turning
grey, consumed by tarmac for roads, bricks and mortar for luxury golf courses
and housing developments.
The loss of the Amazon rainforest has been measured for years using satellite
imagery and on-the-ground monitoring, but until now the scale of green land
lost in Europe had never been captured in the same way.
In the first investigation of its kind across Europe, the Green to Grey
project, working with scientists from the Norwegian Institute for Nature
Research (Nina) to measure nature loss, reveals the scale of nature and
farmland engulfed by human interventions.
The cross-border project by the
Guardian,
Arena for Journalism in Europe
(Arena), Nina, the Norwegian broadcaster
NRK and other news outlets in 11
countries found that Europe loses about 1,500 sq km (580 sq miles) a year to
construction. About 9,000 sq km of land – an area the size of Cyprus – was
turned green to grey between 2018 and 2023, according to the data. That is the
equivalent of almost 30 sq km a week, or 600 football pitches a day.
Nature accounts for the majority of the losses, at about 900 sq km a year, but
the research shows we are also building on agricultural land at a rate of about
600 sq km a year, with grave consequences for the continent’s food security and
health.
Steve Carver, a professor of wilderness at the University of Leeds, said: “Land
lost to development is one of the primary drivers of wilderness loss and
biodiversity decline. But we are also losing cropland and productive land as
our cities expand into the green belt and on to agricultural land.”
The most common developments, accounting for a quarter of all cases, were for
housing and roads. But nature and farmland is also being destroyed to
accommodate luxuries for the rich, tourism, consumerism and industry."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
