?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Adc&rft.relation=https%3A%2F%2Fpure.iiasa.ac.at%2Fid%2Feprint%2F4505%2F&rft.title=Lifestyles+and+Global+Land-use+Change&rft.creator=Heilig%2C+G.K.&rft.description=One+of+the+most+influential+publications+on+land-use+change+is+a+small+booklet%2C+published+by+the+International+Geosphere-Biosphere+Programme+(IGBP)+and+the+Human+Dimensions+of+Global+Environmental+Change+Programme+(HDP).+It+was+written+--+as+its+subtitle+says+--+as+a+%22proposal+for+an+IGBP-HDP+Core+Project%22+on+%22Relating+Land+Use+and+Global+Land-Cover+Change%22.+The+booklet+can+be+seen+as+some+kind+of+programmatic+statement+to+guide+international+collaborative+research+on+global+land-use+change.+Unfortunately%2C+the+publication+promotes+a+rather+biased+view+of+global+land-use+change.+Using+questionable+statistics+the+authors+conclude+that+the+main+focus+of+research+should+be+the+detailed+investigation+of+changes+in+the+rural++land+use.+Urban+areas+and+their+infrastructures+are+considered+irrelevant.+As+a+consequence+almost+all+attention+is+given+to+arable+cultivation+and++livestock+production+--+with+some+interest+left+over+to+the+forest+sector.+Population+growth+and+the+associate+rising+food+demand+are+usually+considered+the+main+driving+forces+of+global+land-use+change.+%0D%0A%0D%0AIn+this+chapter+I+will+argue+that+rural+land+use+is+only+one+of+the+processes+which+are+shaping+the+globe's+land+cover.+There+are+other+and+probably+more+important+land-use+changes+which+are+caused+by+urbanization%2C+infrastructure+expansion%2C+industrial+production%2C+or+changes+in+consumption+patterns+and+lifestyles.+These+changes+in+build-up+land+might+affect+only+relatively+small+areas+--+as+compared+to+the+huge+areas+of+forests+and++agricultural+land.+But+they+are+often+much+more+persistent+and+intrusive.+Once+a+patch+of+land+is+sealed+off+by+tons+of+concrete+or+highway+pavement+it+is+extremely+difficult+if+not+impossible+to+transform+it+back+into+a+natural+ecosystem.+Once+a+valley+was+filled+up+with+giga-tons+of+water+for+a+reservoir+or+a+gigantic+hole+was+dug+in+an+open+pit+mine%2C+we+have+an+almost+irreversible+land-cover+modification.+%0D%0A%0D%0AMoreover%2C+I+will+claim+that+agricultural+land-use+change+is+not+only+caused+b+increasing+food+demand+due+to+population+growth+(as+people+usually+assume)+but+also+by+changes+in+lifestyles+and+food+preferences+which+are+driven+b+economic+modernization+and+urbanization.+The+paper+presents+FAO+data+whic+indicate+that+probably+some+20+percent+of+the+arable+land+world-wide+is+alread+cultivated+for+lifestyle-related+products%2C+such+as+drugs%2C+tobacco%2C+coffee%2C+tea+sugar+beet%2C+sugar+cane%2C+cocoa%2C+or+cotton.+There+is+a+trend+towards+animal-base+food+in+many+parts+of+the+world%2C+notably+in+China+where+per+capita+meat+consumption+has+significantly+increased+during+the+past+20+years.+In+Europe+Western+Asia%2C+and+Northern+America+changing+food+preferences+have+cause+growing+demand+for+vegetable+oils.+These+are+just+the+most+obvious+examples+o+certain+(feed)+crop+areas%2C+such+as+the+expansion+of+soybean+production+i+Brazil+or+the+increase+of+oil+crops+cultivation+in+Europe+Changes+in+rural+land-use+are+often+caused+by+driving+forces+which+emanat+from+the+urban+centers+of+industrialized+countries.&rft.publisher=WP-95-091&rft.date=1995-09&rft.type=Monograph&rft.type=NonPeerReviewed&rft.format=text&rft.language=en&rft.identifier=https%3A%2F%2Fpure.iiasa.ac.at%2Fid%2Feprint%2F4505%2F1%2FWP-95-091.pdf&rft.identifier=++Heilig%2C+G.K.+%3Chttps%3A%2F%2Fpure.iiasa.ac.at%2Fview%2Fiiasa%2F1318.html%3E++(1995).++Lifestyles+and+Global+Land-use+Change.+++IIASA+Working+Paper.+IIASA%2C+Laxenburg%2C+Austria%3A+WP-95-091+++++