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Geografia d'Europa: textos de suport |
In all parts of Europe, in addition to the main landscape types,
specific regional landscapes have emerged. Examples are the open forest
landscapes of the Iberian Peninsula (montado or dehesa), the coltura promiscua
in Italy and Portugal, and Poland's strip fields, all of which are described
below.
Kampen
Found in Flanders (Belgium), the southern and eastern parts of The Netherlands, in North-Rhine-Westphalia (Germany) and also in Les Landes (France), the 'kampen' landscapes are generally enclosed, with a patchwork layout of woods, heath, swamps, mixed crops, scattered farmsteads and roads (Wijermans and Meeus, 1991). There is a great diversity of trees on plots and the poor sandy soils (generally podzols) are cut by stream valleys. This rich diversity of the kampen landscape makes it highly flexible for growing crops. There are some interesting ecological differences between cultivated land on the one hand and heath and wet pasture land on the other.
The poorest soils are covered with woods. Intensification of agriculture, abundant use of fertilisers and manure and fragmentation of wildlife habitats have almost eliminated the contrast between open areas and enclosed farmland in the Dutch kampen. The quality of the kampen in this area is under pressure because of the vulnerability of the ecological system. Landscapes are split up, vegetation is being removed and there is a threat of soils drying out and groundwater becoming polluted. Increasing density of livestock (cows and pigs) results in large quantities of manure for disposal. Use of fertilisers and pesticides is abundant. The carrying capacity of the sandy soils is low and groundwater pollution has become a particular environmental problem of the Dutch kampen landscape. Drainage changes wet grasslands, heath and marshlands, depriving them of their natural character (Atlas van Nederland, 198490).
Dehesa / montado
The montados of southern Portugal and the dehesas of southwestern Spain are two very similar types of traditional agro-silvo-pastoral landscapes. Characterised by an unsystematic dispersion and density of cork and holm oaks (Quercus suber, Quercus rotundifolia, Quercus ilex, and Quercus pyrenaica), these montados represent some of the few 'small-scale' landscapes of the Mediterranean. In what was originally maquis ('charneca'), the trees became important as a source of cork and also as food (masts and acorns) for pigs and later for goats and cattle. Owing to a rotational system, goats are no longer than six to eight years in the same area before being moved to adjacent locations, while the soil is cultivated with cereal for two years.
Subsequent grazing prevents the growth of a shrub-type vegetation. Besides being a landuse system which is based on sustainable principles and without the need for additional energy-input, the montado provides varied habitats for a high diversity of fauna and flora, including a number of rare and threatened species.
Three independent processes have, however, resulted in a substantial degeneration of the montados and dehesas in Portugal and Spain. One of them has been triggered by the 'wheat campaign' of the 1930s. Because of the emphasis on crop cultivation, the trees on the montados were reduced to a minimum, and mechanisation plus fertilisation was increased. While the oaks were severely affected by mechanised work and use of chemicals, the poor soils did not allow crop yields to be economically successful. Consequently, large portions of the land were abandoned in favour of establishing large-scale monoculture of fast-growing eucalyptus, designated for the cellulose industry. This development led to irreversible transformations and deteriorations of the landscape (Pinto Correia, 1991), accompanied by a loss of biological diversity that has affected regional socio-economic structures.
Today, there is an increasing awareness that traditional forms of land
management need to be re-established by increasing goat production, improving
pastures and protecting and planting more cork oaks. The dehesa/montado
is the typical candidate for a Red Book of threatened landscapes (Naveh,
1993).
Coltura promiscua
The coltura promiscua is an enclosed landscape, characterised by intensive traditional mixed farming. The landscape displays a classic 'upright' pattern of trees, bushes and ground cover. Examples can be found in central Italy and in valleys of the Iberian Peninsula. In the foothills of the Apennines, coltura promiscua is combined with terraces (Lebeau, 1969), which both retain the scarce rainwater and keep the thin layer of soil in place. Scattered farmsteads can be found, and the population is concentrated in villages. In the expanse of the Mediterranean open land in Spain, there are several small areas with a mosaic of traditional landuse forms. The traditional mixed cultivation of the coltura promiscua in central Italy and northern Portugal is strongly affected by the present tendencies in agricultural management. These traditional agricultural landscapes are therefore probably destined to disappear when the choice is made between intensification or marginalisation (Meeus et al, 1990).
Poland's strip fields
In the eastern part of Poland, traditional labour-intensive agriculture
outlived the period of collectivisation. Since the 1980s, private agriculture
on extremely small plots developed to a modern market-oriented agriculture
and part-time farming (Kostrowicki et al, 1984). This landscape has a long
historical connotation. The parcels are split up into a pattern of strips,
buildings are concentrated in compact villages and there is a small-scale
network of rural roads (Verhoeve and Vervloet, 1992). Mixed crops, orchards,
horticulture and the presence of many people and horses on the small plots
characterise this landscape.
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