Monitoring of Land Consumption: an Analysis of Loss of Natural and Agricultural Areas in Italy

This paper aims to describe land monitoring activities and to analyse land consumption status and trends in Italy. Two methods are developed for the estimation: land cover mapping and stratified sampling monitoring network. The former is used for the creation of an accurate map (10m spatial resolution raster for the years 2012 and 2015) of consumed land (i.e. artificial land cover); the latter allows to estimate very precisely the amount of consumed land. Several spatial analyses were produced integrating the map of consumed land with additional environmental spatial data, allowing for the calculation of several indicators, such as: consumed land inside a buffer of 150m from water bodies, the surface potentially impacted by consumed land inside buffers at several distances. The monitoring network allowed for the estimation of changes, also in terms of types of artificial areas. Estimates show that land consumption is increasing in Italy, with a pace of growth of about 35ha per day during the period 2013-2015, reaching about 21,100km2 of consumed land (about 7% of Italian surface). These estimates can be useful for public administrations in monitoring urban sprawl and fostering policies preserving the ecosystem, as well as supporting land use planning policies.