Proposals for classification and evaluation of land degradation in Latvia

Land degradation is one of the most pressing problems ensuring sustainable use of land. In order to provide a clear understanding of land degradation and its risks, as well as to implement unified measures for prevention of land degradation in Latvia, the Land Management Law came into force in 2015. It individually defines the concepts of land and soil degradation, thus separating them from each other, as well as clarifying the term “degraded territory”. However, despite these solutions in the regulatory framework of the land degradation, till now criteria for identifying land degradation have not been developed and approved, therefore their determination is very subjective and not comparable between municipalities and at the state level. The aim of the article is to develop and approbation degradation criteria for assessing land degradation in particular territory. In the article, based on the author's previous studies on the classification of land degradation, characterised one type of land degradation - the abandoned agricultural and forestry activity territory, as well as proposed subdivision of criteria classification into three levels – low, medium and high. As result of the study, it was concluded that the classification of degraded territories into three degradation levels is justified for the purpose of more objective identification and evaluation of land degradation.