Study site description: Crete, Greece

Table of Contents

1. Responsible partner
2. General Information
3. Bio-physical description
4. Socio-economic description
   1. Population density and structure
   2. Education level
   3. Level and source(s) of income main stakeholder groups
   4. Major livelihood supports available from the resource base listed above
   5. Impacts of land degradation on the livelihood of people and what groups are most affected
   6. Major challenges of existing land resource management
   7. Major drivers of main land degradation processes
5. Institutional and political setting
6. Relevant end-users/stakeholder groups
7. Past and on-going projects
8. Bibliography

Major livelihood supports available from the resource base listed above

The local economy of Crete is based on agriculture, tourism and industry. The main agricultural products are: olive oil, early growing vegetables, oranges, avocado, wives, grapes, milk, and meat with emphasis on olive oil production and cattle rearing for dairy products. Other products include bananas, and fruits crops, various fish and shellfish. Within Greece, Crete is the 1st largest olive oil producer providing about 37% of total national production. Milk production corresponds to about 13% of the total national production, while the livestock is participated by 25% of the total nationwide. Furthermore, early growing vegetables in greenhouses or in open areas is estimated to 300.000-400.000 tones per year. The area of greenhouses covers about 50% of the total area in Greece

Since 1960, an effort to break dependence on the cultivation of olive trees has been made because unstable production has led to unstable income. Instead, the focus had turned to tourism and the immediate need to develop infrastructure (hotels, roads and transport) set against a background of modernization that has become more evident since Greece's accession to the EU. Today the tertiary sector is prominent while factors such as small size land ownership, restricted natural resources, ageing population and low competitiveness of agricultural products (due to high production and market competition), suppress the growth of the primary sector.

Farmers' income is declining and depends increasingly on state subsidies and community funds which, following revision of the CAP and the enlargement of the EU, are eventually be reduced. The decline in farmers' income is the most important factor affecting land use decision making. The prices of the main products (olive oil, meat, and milk) do not follow the general trends of the market, thus reducing the income. In many cases the prices of products such as olive oil decreased, while the cost of living increased. Labour, fertilizers, pesticides and fuel costs have increased significantly without any parallel increase in the prices of products. The great increase in tourist numbers in the last few decades has greatly affected the economy of the island and land use especially in the lowlands such as Messara valley, Ierapetra plain, and Chania lower area along the coast. Furthermore tourism development has also largely influenced land value in some parts of the island, affecting a significant part of rural land. The main land use changes that occurred due to these processes were expansion of annual agricultural crops (vegetables) and extension of urban areas into agricultural or natural areas.