Agriculture has positive and negative effects on the environment, biodiversity and landscapes. Most of Europe's landscapes and their biological diversity have been shaped by agricultural practices. Recent decades have witnessed an increasing scale and intensity of agriculture for the improvement of production of food and fibres. Recent agricultural policies integrate environmental concerns and look at multiple functions of agriculture. With agricultural policy largely being directed by central administration in Brussels, priorities are needed to reduce the environmental impacts of agriculture. Which regions in Europe are at highest risk? What components of agriculture cause the main harm? How can risks be identified and reduced? This report, written by a team of international environmental experts and conservationists, describes an innovative methodology and results of a three-year study that applied agri-environmental indicators and European datasets to identify the main environmental risk areas in Europe. It covers soil erosion, nutrient enrichment, pesticide use and their integrated risks for biodiversity and landscapes. The book lists recommendations for improved data collection, monitoring and processing as well as for policy measures, and provides an extremely useful source of information for policymakers and scientists with an interest in agri-environmental data and policies at a European scale. ECNC-European Centre for Nature Conservation, who coordinated this European Union-funded project, is a leading organization on the interface of biodiversity research and policy in Europe and has been working on the relationship between agriculture and biodiversity for many years.

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