Conservation of natural ecosystems by land consolidation in the rural landscape

Abstract

Protecting the environment better livelihoods in rural communities have become increasingly important elements in land consolidation. The main objective of land consolidation is to improve the land holdings of farmers by concentrating their farms in as few plots as possible, and to support the farms with roads and infrastructure when needed. Experiences from the Western European countries and also from Slovenia show that land consolidation, which solely focuses on increase in productivity without taking into consideration the ecological aspects easily lead to negative effects. The fragmentation of natural ecosystems resulting from inappropriate land consolidation has been recognised as one of the major causes of the decline of biodiversity, the others being erosion, and the lowering of water table. In the areas of intensive agricultural production ecological structures, such as hedges, small areas of bushes, trees and water holes should be preserved. Because the efficiency of land utilisation increases after the implementation of land consolidation, the small land areas could be justified to ecological land use.