Land Degradation in Europe

This dataset includes raster and vector data for the Land Multi-degradation Index (LMI) modelled across pan-European agricultural lands, as well as for the 12 indicators (land degradation processes) compiled to develop the LMI. The raster data covers the agricultural (~2 million km²) and, implicitly, arable (~1.1 million km²) environments of the EU and other European countries, complemented by continental-scale vector layers with NUTS-level degradation statistics.
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Soil Threats Data
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Image icon Spatial distribution of LMI values (number of co-occurring processes) in agricultural landscapes.
Year: 
2024
Themes: 
Land degradation

Title: Land Degradation in Europe
Description: Land degradation is a complex socio-environmental threat, which generally occurs as multiple concurrent pathways that remain largely unexplored in Europe. Here we present an unprecedented analysis of land multi-degradation in 40 continental countries, using twelve raster-based processes that were modelled as land degradation convergence pathways in Europe’s agricultural (and arable) environments. The twelve indicators of land degradation include binarily classified data (into non-critical and critical levels) for Water erosion (WaE), Wind erosion (WiE), Soil organic carbon loss (SOCL), Soil salinization (SS), Soil acidification (SA), Soil compaction (SC), Soil nutrient imbalances (SNI), Soil pollution via pesticides (SPP), Soil pollution via heavy metals (SPHM), Vegetation degradation (VD), Groundwater decline (GD), and Aridity (A). The final raster product resulting from the fusion of the twelve raster-based land degradation processes delivers the LMI, with different values representing the pixel-level number of convergent (co-occurring) critical conditions across the binary indicators. Additionally, the four vector databases cover the NUTS 0 (40 units, corresponding to national boundaries), NUTS 1 (major socio-economic regions, 114 units), NUTS 2 (basic regions for the application of regional policies, 307 units), and NUTS 3 (small regions for specific diagnoses, 1440 units) levels across Europe. These vector layers include attribute tables that integrate statistical data for both critical absolute (in km²) and percentage (pc or %) areas of the twelve processes (abbreviated with the acronyms above), alongside those for the final LMI with 1, 2, 3, 4, and at least 5 co-occurring processes. Missing statistical data due to process data unavailability or arising from a lack of agricultural lands within some NUTS units are flagged with -9999 values.

  • Spatial Coverage: EU plus UK, CH, NO and Western Balkans (40 countries in total)
  • Resolution: 500m
  • Time Reference:  1981-2021
  • Format: GEOTIFF Units: Binary (Non-critical / Non degraded and Critical / Degraded) for the 12 indicators. Number of land degradation processes for the LMI.  
  • Format: Shapefile Units: Absolute (km²) and percentage (%) areas of critical classes for the 12 indicators and of LMI values.  
  • Projection: ETRS89LAEA - ETRS89 Lambert Azimutal Equal Area
  • More Information: Land degradation
     

References:

Prăvălie, R., Borrelli, P., Panagos, P., Ballabio, C., Lugato, E., Chappell, A., Miguez-Macho, G., Maggi, F., Peng, J., Niculiță, M. and Roșca, B., Patriche, C.,Dumitrașcu, M., Bandoc, G., Nita, I.A. and Birsan, M.V. 2024. A unifying modelling of multiple land degradation pathways in Europe. Nature Communications, 15(1), 3862. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-48252-x

Prăvălie R., Necula N., Borrelli P., Panagos P., Lugato E., Ballabio C., Hassani A., Koppa A., Patriche C., Tișcovschi A., Bandoc G., Roșca B., 2026. A pan-European spatial inventory of agricultural land degradation. International Soil and Water Conservation Research, DOI: 10.1016/j.iswcr.2026.100613

 

Main highlights:

  • >80% of EU agricultural lands are degraded.
  • 27%, 35% and 22% of continental agricultural (~2 million km2) and arable (~1.1 million km2) lands are currently threatened by one, two, and three drivers of degradation
  • 10% of pan-European agricultural / arable landscapes are cumulatively affected by four and at least five concurrent land degradation processes

 

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For any problem / question / comment on this dataset, please contact ec-esdac@ec.europa.eu

Notification:

  1. The data provided has been prepared for use by internal research activities in EU Soil Observatory (JRC Ispra) in collaboration with scientists from the University of Bucharest, supported by the EU’s NextGenerationEU instrument through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan of Romania – Pillar III-C9-2022-I8, managed by the Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitalization, within the project entitled “Complex modelling of multiple land degradation processes in Europe. Towards an integrative scientific framework for sustainable land management across the continent", contract no. 760051/23.05.2023, code CF 216/29.11.2022.
  2. The data were developed for research purposes of the JRC (European Commission). The JRC does not accept any liability whatsoever for any error, missing data or omission in the data, or for any loss or damage arising from its use. The JRC agrees to provide the data free of charge but is not bound to justify the content and values contained in the databases.
  3. The permission to use the data specified above is granted on condition that, under NO CIRCUMSTANCES are these data passed to third parties. They can be used for any purpose, including commercial gain.
  4. The user agrees to:
       a) Make proper reference to the source of the data when disseminating the results to which this agreement relates;
       b) Participate in the verification of the data (e.g. by noting and reporting any errors or omissions discovered to the JRC).



 

 

Reference of source (Citations) :

Prăvălie, R., Borrelli, P., Panagos, P., Ballabio, C., Lugato, E., Chappell, A., Miguez-Macho, G., Maggi, F., Peng, J., Niculiță, M. and Roșca, B., Patriche, C.,Dumitrașcu, M., Bandoc, G., Nita, I.A. and Birsan, M.V. 2024. A unifying modelling of multiple land degradation pathways in Europe. Nature Communications, 15(1), 3862. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-48252-x

Prăvălie R., Necula N., Borrelli P., Panagos P., Lugato E., Ballabio C., Hassani A., Koppa A., Patriche C., Tișcovschi A., Bandoc G., Roșca B., 2026. A pan-European spatial inventory of agricultural land degradation. International Soil and Water Conservation Research, DOI: 10.1016/j.iswcr.2026.100613

When making reference to the ESDAC

  • Panagos, P., Van Liedekerke, M., Borrelli, P., Köninger, J., Ballabio, C., Orgiazzi, A., Lugato, E., Liakos, L., Hervas, J., Jones, A.  Montanarella, L. 2022. European Soil Data Centre 2.0: Soil data and knowledge in support of the EU policies. European Journal of Soil Science, 73(6), e13315. DOI: 10.1111/ejss.13315
  • Panagos P., Van Liedekerke M., Jones A., Montanarella L., “European Soil Data Centre: Response to European policy support and public data requirements”; (2012) Land Use Policy, 29 (2), pp. 329-338. doi:10.1016/j.landusepol.2011.07.003
  • European Soil Data Centre (ESDAC), esdac.jrc.ec.europa.eu, European Commission, Joint Research Centre