New investigation reveals nature loss across Europe equivalent to 600 football pitches per day

In the first investigation of its kind, 41 journalists and scientists from 11 countries have come together for the Green to Grey project, to reveal the scale of Europe’s nature and cropland loss.

The project was initiated by Arena for Journalism in Europe and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, NRK, and was supported by scientists from the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA). NINA’s novel methodology for measuring nature loss was refined for the project, which is an expansion of an original investigation by NRK.

Using satellite imagery, artificial intelligence, and on-the-ground reporting, our investigation reveals the true extent of nature and cropland loss to construction projects across Europe.

 

Headline findigs

  • Every year, Europe loses 1,500 km² to construction. Between 2018 and 2023, we lost approximately 9,000km² – an area the size of Cyprus. This is close to 30km² destroyed every week, the equivalent of 600 football pitches every single day.
  • Nature, such as forests, grasslands and wetlands, accounts for the majority of these losses, at about 900 km² a year.
  •  Agricultural land accounts for 600km² of losses every year, with grave consequences for food security and health.
  • These results show that undeveloped land in Europe is disappearing one and a half times faster than previously estimated by the EEA.
  • The main drivers of land loss across Europe are housing and road building, but we also found many instances of construction serving only a minority, such as luxury tourism sites.

  • More than 150,000 constructions, over 70 a day, encroached on protected areas. Some of these constructions may be allowed by an area’s protection status or have received a permit from authorities, while others may be illegally built.

  • Four of every five instances of construction occurred within populated areas already transformed by human activities - further fragmenting the little nature left in Europe and threatening areas important for recreation, as well as for mitigating floods or extreme heat.

 

Quotes

“This is a strong showcase (...) This is something that everybody should be aware of.” - Peter Verburg, professor in Environmental spatial analysis at the University of Amsterdam

“For years, the EU has promised to lead on climate and nature protection, but what this investigation shows is that we are literally cementing over our own future.” - Lena Schilling, MEP

“This is dramatic, especially considering that just a couple of years ago, the EU introduced vigorous environmental policies, and now we're witnessing setbacks.” - Gunnar Austrheim, professor at NTNU in Trondheim

 

Project credits

Green to Grey is an investigative data journalism project initiated by Arena for Journalism in Europe and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, NRK. This cross-border collaboration includes publications by Datadista (Spain), De Standaard (Belgium), Die Zeit (Germany), Facta (Italy), Gazeta Wyborcza (Poland), Le Monde (France), Long Play (Finland), NRK (Norway), Reporters United (Greece), The Black Sea (Turkey), and The Guardian (UK).

Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA) provided scientific expertise for the project.

 

Socials / Assets

For all published stories, go to: greentogrey.eu

For all assets, go to G2G Press Folder

Arena can be found on LinkedIn | Bluesky #greentogrey

 

Contact

Editorial enquiries and quotes: zeynepatjournalismarena [dot] eu

Data- or methodology-specific enquiries: leoatjournalismarena [dot] eu

General enquiries: commsatjournalismarena [dot] eu