Research shows artificial objects cover most fertile land

The construction of logistics parks, industrial plants, new transport infrastructure and housing are resulting in a continuous decline in the surface area of agricultural land in Slovakia. Landscape ecologists from the Slovak Academy of Sciences pointed this out on the occasion of World Soil Day (December 5). According to their research, out of the total number of 74 industrial parks in Slovakia, as many as 63 percent are of the greenfield type. "For example, 183 hectares (ha) of quality land in Slovakia were taken for the construction of the Peugeot Citroen industrial plant, 30 ha for Jaguar Land Rover, 200 ha for the construction of the Volkswagen Slovakia area, and 130 ha of the highest quality land was occupied to build the industrial zone in Voderady (Trnava region)," said head of the Academy's Institute of Landscape Ecology Zita Izakovicova. While new real estate grows on greenfield, old unused buildings remain abandoned and create brownfield, underused, neglected real estate that degrades the aesthetic value of the land.