Food security? In 9 years, agricultural land shrank by an area as large as the entire canton of Schaffhausen.

In the Central Plateau and valley floors, this decline is mainly due to the expansion of settlement areas: Just over half of the agricultural land lost between 1985 and 2018 was converted into settlement areas (52%). Settlement growth thus contributed significantly to the continuous reduction of agricultural land in Switzerland since 2009. In the mountain regions of the Alps, however, the loss of agricultural land is often due to so-called “natural reforestation”: On abandoned land, shrubs first spread, later woody plants develop, and finally forest. This development accounts for around 30% of land conversions. Another 18% of the lost agricultural land was converted into unproductive areas (such as rock, scree, water bodies, or vegetation-free areas).