30 years of Czech landscape – 30 years of changes

The landscape of Czechia has undergone a considerable change during its independence. Where sheep grazed once, today we find fields. Where used to be fields, today we find forests. Where used to be forests, we might even live there today. How has the Czech landscape changed since the fall of communism? How do the ways in which we use the land relate to the evolution of our society and the changes associated with it? Towards what form is the Czech landscape heading? Not only these question were answered by Petra Grešlová from CENIA (CENIA – Czech Environmental Information Agency), Josef Laštovička, and Přemysl Štych from the Department of Applied Geoinformatics and Cartography at the Faculty of Science of Charles University.

Land cover and Land use are the key concepts of this research. Studying them can help us to uncover the impacts of many different phenomena and their wider implications, both environmental and social. They are also of considerable importance for our future – their results can form policies and approaches to agriculture, environmental protection, etc. The European Environment Agency's (EEA) Land Cover Flows method was used to assess landscape cover change. Obtaining the actual data for such research is now considerably easier than before. The data for this study were provided by the European Union's Copernicus program, which focuses primarily on the environment and provides the vast majority of its data products to the public free of charge.

Illustrative picture of a landscape
Source: pro-bio.cz

The 1990s in Czechia were a period of tumultuous change – the transition from communism to democracy, from a centrally planned economy to a market economy, gradual integration into European and global structures... The impact on the economy and agriculture was inevitable. Privatization, shifts in land ownership, liberalization of prices, adaptation to the needs of European and global markets and, above all, the end of socialist subsidies caused a significant recession in agricultural production. The area of agricultural land is declining and, on the contrary, built-up areas are expanding, especially in the residential areas of towns and cities, especially in metropolitan areas (Prague and its surroundings, Brno and Ostrava) and in close proximity of the main transport arteries (e.g. the D1, D5 and D10 motorways). There is also intensive afforestation and grassland reseeding, which is typical of border and peripheral areas.

The most significant event of the early 21st century for the Czech economy is undoubtedly the accession to the European Union in 2004, which now fully integrates Czechia into international structures and provides subsidies, including for agriculture. The extensification of agriculture continues, even though with lower intensity. The government policy of the late 1990s to attract foreign investors has resulted in the development of industrial zones. However, peripheries attract less investment, which causes emigration to larger cities, and the development of peripheral areas is much slower, which leads to the spatial polarization of Czechia.

Comparison of field sizes in Czechia and Austria
Source: mapy.cz

In the following years, the intensity of the expansion of industrial zones is decreasing, while the growth of residential areas is intensifying. The EU's agricultural policy, which focuses primarily on production, is already in full effect. Although the environmental impact has also been addressed, its importance is proving to be secondary. The impact on the Czech landscape is therefore ambiguous at best. The large swathes of fields that remain due to collectivization from the communist era are more prone to erosion and their ability to retain water in the landscape is significantly reduced.

The last period observed, 2012-2018, is the most stable compared to the others. All landscape cover changes are at their lowest intensity, including agricultural extensification. In contrast, the most fertile areas with favorable conditions are experiencing an increase in intensification - the conversion of previously less intensively used areas into arable land. The most notable anomaly in this period is the bark beetle calamity, which caused a sharp increase in deforestation in 2018 – the only reduction in forest area over the entire period under observation, i.e. since 1990.

In the three decades studied (1990-2018), land cover changes in Czechia were mainly influenced by economic (subsidies, investments) and social (lifestyle changes, pro-Western orientation) factors. It is essential to realize that any change we make can have far-reaching consequences, both positive and negative. Therefore, our interventions in the landscape should be well thought out and supported by specific data. In the future, we can expect a continuation of the established trends, i.e. a decrease in the area of agricultural land and an increase in built-up areas. As a result of climate change, the impact of our activities on the environment must be taken into account more than ever before – for example, the need to retain water in the landscape and prevent erosion, for which Czech fields are not currently well suited. Thus, landscape cover analyses should be an important basis for spatial planning and regional policies, which could lead to greater stability of ecosystems and the landscape in general.

Matěj Hrabal

Greslova, P., Lastovicka, J., Stych, P., Kabrda, J. Et al. Land cover flows and land use intensity in the three decades of the post-communist Czechia: Changing trends and driving forces. Anthropocene 43, 100395 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ancene.2023.100395