About » Agriculture and its high environmental impact
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The Baltic Sea environment hasbeen heavily influenced by the industry, agriculture, transport, urbanisationand tourism, which have been sources of chemical, physical and sanitarypollution (also, nuclear power plants in the Baltic region carry the risk ofwater pollution with radioactive isotopes), resulting in over-fishing,structural changes in the ecosystems (loss or transformation of naturalhabitats), diminished biocenotic diversity, and interference in the naturalregulation and self-purification processes of the Baltic Sea.
Givenits scale, continuity and specific nature of agricultural activities, whoseenvironmental impact has always been heavy, agriculture has brought aboutperhaps the most serious environmental consequences for the Baltic Sea and itscatchment area.
In the livestock production sector, mismanagedlarge-scale livestock farms, i.e. installations of strongly concentrated,intensive and industrialized animal rearing, appear to be the source of thebiggest environmental burden and to exert significant individual environmentalimpact.As such, large-scale livestockfarms should be classified as point sources of agricultural pollution, whoseinteractions with the environment ? their intensity and scope ? are completelydifferent from diffuse sources of pollution. Diffuse sources of agriculturalpollution involve diffuse crop production and small or medium livestock farms.
Intensive animal productioncarries within a number of serious risks which are not limited to the farmarea, but are directly related to the neighbouring areas and indirectly impactthe environmental conditions of the Baltic Sea region. It affects allcomponents of the natural environment ? living organisms, air, soil and water(surface water, groundwater, precipitation water). What is more, the negativeconsequences of industrial livestock production has not only environmental, butalso social, economic, legislative and legal connotations.