Historical Land Use Changes over the Past 300 Years (1700-1992)

One database was developed at the National Institute of Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) in the Netherlands and the other was developed at the Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment (SAGE), University of Wisconsin-Madison. These two databases used historical statistical inventories on agricultural lands (census data, tax records, land surveys, etc.) and applied different spatial analysis techniques to reconstruct land cover change due to land use for the last 300 years.

The data sets focused on reconstructing the historical expansion of cropland and pasture areas. The data show that cropland areas expanded from 3-4 million km^2 1700 to 15-18 km^2 in 1990, while pasture areas expanded from 4-5 million km^2 in 1700 to 31-33 million km^2 in 1990. The database also includes a global potential natural vegetation data set (developed by SAGE).