Field: Environment and sustainable development

Subfield: Use and preservation of natural resources

Details:

This indicator measures the land cover by countries and regions: crops, forests, pastures, waters, meadows and the artificial surface, with the subunits: a) built-up area (buildings and greenhouses) and b) artificial surface, without buildings (streets, paved surfaces). The indicator reflects both the composition of various categories of land cover at the level of countries or regions, but also the human intervention (what percentage of land has been processed for social, economic and industrial use). The data is calculated within LUCAS (Land use and Coverage Area Frame Survey) for 2009, 2012 and 2015 (for Romania data is available for 2012 and 2015 only).

Romania has a harmonious land cover: 32.2% crops, 32.6% forests, 27.1% pastures, a similar distribution to France or Poland. In terms of artificial surface, the figures for Romania are lower (2.2%) than EU average (4.2%) or highly industrialized countries (5.4% France, 7.4% Germany). There are significant differences between urban regions and other development regions (for instance, București-Ilfov has an artificial coverage of 15%).