Reclamation
Reclamation or cultivation refers to the conversion of previously natural areas into agriculturally usable areas. The measures required for this differ depending on the initial state of the area. In addition to the development of roads , forestry or agricultural roads to include, for example, the clearing and leveling of the area to provide them with agricultural machinery Usable as to make. The removal of stones or the creation of irrigation systems are also part of reclamation. If the reclamation takes place through clearing, the land gained in this way is often referred to as new quarry , new land or clearing .
For a long time, the term reclamation had only positive connotations. This corresponds to a worldview that confronts people in a largely hostile environment . The aim was to push back the wilderness, which was viewed as useless, and to provide a livelihood for as many people as possible. Before the introduction of industrialized agriculture, many structured and species-rich cultural landscapes were created , the biodiversity of which was often higher than that of the original natural landscapes .
By resulting in the second half of the 20th century conservation movement now but also has intrinsic value of wilderness discovered. That is why today there are also critical voices calling for an end to the further development of previously untouched areas, since reclamation represents an irreversible intervention in a previously untouched ecosystem , e.g. B. in the primary forest . While in Europe the reclamation can be seen as largely complete, the development of new agricultural areas is continuing in other continents.
The conversion of areas damaged by humans into agriculturally reusable areas is called reclamation or recultivation .
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Reinhard Piechocki: Landscape - Home - Wilderness. Munich 2010. ISBN 978-3406541520 .