Regions and environment

The farmer operates in a political, technical, institutional and climatic environment outside his farm. Many environmental impacts from agriculture are analysed at regional scale, just like the response dynamics to current changes and the production of ecosystem services.

2 billion

people affected

by land degradation and desertification

3/4

of the volume of water

consumed worldwide by agriculture

54%

of the world population

live in urban areas

The region is a complex system with dynamics driven by feedback loops linking a set of players and the geographical are they use, develop and manage.

The region is a geographical area where different soil, agricultural, forestry and urban uses co-exist, each one helping to produce services for society and where change is oriented by public policies.

Rural and peri-urban regions are at the heart of deep-seated transformations from changes in lifestyles and increasing urbanisation.

In addition, the environmental challenges connected to farming are expressed increasingly at regional scale, be it protecting the quality of shared resources such as water and air, protecting environments in terms of erosion and soil quality or with respect to the degradation of the biodiversity.

Ultimately, it means managing sustainably the renewal natural resources (water, forest, soils, etc.) and to think about the development, concept and design of regions and landscapes from the viewpoint of demographic pressure and growing urbanisation.