Moving toward the north: A country-level classification of land sensitivity to degradation in Czech Republic

Land sensitivity to degradation is a spatially varying attribute of local systems that experience rapid changes in socio-ecological conditions. To answer the increasing demand of quantitative risk assessment of land degradation and desertification - taken as a final stage of land degradation - in non-affected countries, our study estimates land sensitivity to degradation in the Czech Republic at 1:10,000 scale using the Environmental Sensitive Area (ESA) framework. Czech land was classified into four sensitivity levels (‘insensitive’, ‘potentially sensitive’, ‘fragile’, and ‘critical’). ‘Fragile’ and ‘critical’ land concentrated in accessible lowlands with intensive agriculture. Climate and vegetation quality contributed the most to land sensitivity to degradation in the country. Low soil quality and land management quality were causes of land sensitivity in few, sparse agricultural districts. A comparison with Mediterranean and South-Eastern European countries indicates that land sensitivity to degradation in the Czech Republic is only slightly lower than in neighbouring, affected countries (sensu UNCCD, Annex IV), with the same acting drivers (agriculture intensification and urban sprawl). In light of climate change, national and regional policies are required to face with the increase of land sensitivity in ‘formally non-affected’ countries of Central-Eastern Europe, taking stock of the ‘Mediterranean’ experience in assessing and managing land sensitivity to degradation.