Agriculture and the Greek Rural Environment

HIS PAPER CONSIDERS the relations between agriculture and the environT ment in Greece. Such relations have been marked by the intensification of agricultural production in recent years, a process which has not been uniform, since in some areas it played a decisive role, whereas in others it was not adopted promptly, and regions were left in the margins of intensification. Understanding the evolution of the relationship between agriculture and the environment and its territorial differentiation will allow us to put given situations and problems into perspective. Only within such a context is the formation of procedures and rules feasible, enabling agri-environmental problems to be resolved. The aim of this paper is to reveal the basic forms of this relationship and not to offer detailed information about the agriculture and the environment in Greece. The paper starts with a global observation and an overview of the country, gradually focusing on the environmental problems caused by agricultural activities in mountainous and semi-mountainous areas, as well as in the plains. We are led to the rediscovery of the ‘traditional’ way, as far as it applies in Greece, of differentiating amongst regions. This is a complex classification, based on the conditions particular to the country, thus incorporating the geomorphological and, in some cases, climatic factors, as well as human presence as defined by historic and socio-economic parameters. Such a classification has been tested on numerous studies and lends itself to this level of analysis, having sufficient statistical data. The availability of data brings us to another methodological problem requiring further clarification. In Greece, the attempt to quantify phenomena related either to agriculture or the environment, or even to their relationship, is not a simple and easy task. The statistical and research data necessary for quantitative description and analysis are not always sufficient and, in some cases,