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A century and a half of land use changes in Croatia - driving forces behind vineyard abandonment

Land use changes are a result of natural and cultural factors within particular spatial and chronological frame. However, different land use categories respond to those factors with different degree. Vineyards are among categories most susceptible to change for several reasons ; they are labour-intensive, grapes can be painstaking to cultivate and wine, although usually lucrative product, is not essential in the human diet. The cultivation of vineyards in Croatia can be traced to the first millennium BC but only during the 19th century the first systematic land survey was performed (Franciscan cadaster) which provided us actual data on vineyard area. Beside the cadaster, data were collected and compared from statistical yearbooks, Corine LC and Croatian Agency for Agriculture. The results show a decrease of vineyards in the last 150 years, from over 170 000 ha in 1880s to cca 20 000 ha in 2018. During this period, Croatia experienced several land management systems: peasantry/innovations, collectivization and extensification. Other factors such as phylloxera (19th century), industrialization (1950s-1980s) and Homeland war (1991-1995) also caused a decrease of vineyard areas. Nevertheless, since the accession of Croatia to the EU in 2013, there is an increase of newly planted vineyards due to the financial support in agriculture. Simultaneously, the traditional cultivation on small plots for personal use has continued to reduce and is threatened to completely disappear.

Croatia, land use changes, vineyard abandonment

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