Land consumption
Land consumption as part of human resource consumption is the conversion of land with healthy soil and intact habitats into areas for industrial agriculture, traffic (road building) and especially urban human settlements. More formally, the EEA has identifid 3 land consuming activities:
In all of those respects, land consumption is equivalent to typical land use in industrialized regions and civilizations.
Since often aforementioned conversion activities are virtually irreversible, the term land loss is also used. From 1990 to 2000, 1.4 million hectares (3.5×106 acres) of open space were consumed in the U.S.. In Germany, land is being consumed at a rate of more than 70 hectares (170 acres) every day (~250 thousand hectares (620,000 acres) per 10 years).
Urban growth reduces open space in and around cities, impacting biodiversity and ecosystem services
Land loss can also happen due to natural factors, like erosion or desertification - nevertheless most of those can also eventually be tracked back to human activities. Another slightly different interpretation of the term is the forced displacement or compulsory acquisition of a native people or settlers from their original land due to land grabbing, etc.. Again, in most cases, this will be due to economic reasons like search for profitable investment and commodification of natural resources.
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