Abstract
The socioeconomic and technological development of human societies has been driving profound changes in the classic relationships between cities and the countryside (Gutman, 2007). In the context of such changes, the abandonment of agricultural land is a growing concern throughout much of Europe’s rural mountain areas. Migration and aging population are the main reasons behind the collapse of traditional farming systems and the increase in land abandonment. Together with an intrinsic resistance to adopting modern market-oriented farming practices, these processes induce consequences (still poorly evaluated) to the environment as well as numerous socio-economic impacts. Many of the most traditional types of agricultural landscapes in Europe are dramatically decreasing due to this partial or complete abandonment of farmland (EEA, 2005).
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Cerqueira, Y., Araújo, C., Vicente, J., Pereira, H.M., Honrado, J. (2010). Ecological and Cultural Consequences of Agricultural Abandonment in the Peneda-Gerês National Park (Portugal). In: Evelpidou, N., Figueiredo, T., Mauro, F., Tecim, V., Vassilopoulos, A. (eds) Natural Heritage from East to West. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-01577-9_22
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