WOODY PLANTS GROWTH ON ABANDONED AGRICULTURAL LANDS: SCALE, CAUSES OF ABANDONMENT, WAYS OF USE. A REVIEW

Abstract

The article presents an overview of Russian and foreign papers considering quantitative assessment of woody plants growth on abandoned agricultural lands and possible ways to utilise them. Particular attention is paid to analysing the causes for the abandonment of those lands and the legislation problems that limit the provision of such areas for commercial forest growing in Russia. According to various estimates, the area of abandoned agricultural land in the world varies from 150 to 472 million hectares, with 33 to 100 million hectares being in Russia. At the same time, there is a trend towards an increase in such lands’ area. The rate at which the area of abandoned agricultural lands is increasing is about 1% year-1 on average. It may vary over time and depend on the region. The main groups of factors contributing to the agricultural lands falling into disuse are social, economic, environmental, landscape and historical. The most promising is the involvement of such lands in climate-smart forestry activities, especially for agroforestry. This is due to the multiplier effect from on the one hand, obtaining forest goods, including bioenergy, and on the other hand services, including use in crop or livestock farming activities. Currently in Russia there is no legislative framework permitting commercial forest growing on agricultural lands, with the exception of planting shelterbelts and other protective structures, despite the active position of organizations and government structures involved, so its development proves to be a necessity.

Keywords

• agricultural land
• woody plants growth
• woody plants growth factors
• climate-smart forestry