On 15 November 2010 the Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP) published a report on farmland abandonment in the EU. In the report is stated that in the last decades substantial areas of the EU have been affected by abandonment. And a mid-range estimate shows abandonment up to an amount of 168,000 km2 of land by 2030.
This study was carried out by IEEP for WWF Netherlands with the aim of assessing the likelihood of large-scale agricultural abandonment in the EU (and as far as data allow, other European countries) over the next 20-30 years, and its likely extent and location.
Read more in the report Farmland abandonment in the EU – 15 nov 2010.