Reconciling crop production, climate action and nature conservation in Europe by agricultural intensification and extensification

Agricultural production in areas characterized by low productivity, steep slopes, and high fragmentation is usually associated with higher-than-average management costs and environmental impacts. Abandoning this suboptimal cropland to vegetation regrowth, while optimizing crop production in other locations, is an attractive strategy for supporting climate and biodiversity targets without compromising food security. However, it has not yet been explored within the specific context of European agriculture. Here, we identify the area extent of suboptimal cropland in Europe and assess if crop production losses from its revegetation can be compensated by implementing scenarios of cropland intensification or extensification elsewhere. We found 24.2 million hectares of suboptimal cropland, of which 66% is at degradation risk and about 50% is within biodiversity priority areas. Reducing agricultural intensity in 16.4–30.9 million hectares of the remaining cropland by introducing parcels of trees into the agricultural landscape (extensification), together with strategic crop-switching optimization, can entirely offset crop production losses from revegetation of suboptimal cropland. This scenario has the potential to mitigate up to 40% of European agricultural emissions of greenhouse gases and reduce cropland pressure on biodiversity by 20%. In contrast, cropland intensification achieves lower carbon-biodiversity benefits, with risks that crop losses are not fully compensated.