دراسة تحليلية لواقع وتطور استعمالات الأراضي في سورية خلال الفترة 2002-2022

Abstract

The research aimed to monitor and analyze the quantitative evolution of major land use categories in Syria (agricultural, forest, rangeland, and urban) during the period 2010–2022. It sought to assess the extent of structural changes that led to a decline in efficiency of exploitation and the conversion of productive land into the category of unutilized land (fallow and abandoned). The study adopted the Descriptive Analytical Method, utilizing official time-series data and descriptive statistical indicators to interpret the variation in these structural transformations (decline or stability) and link them to the economic and environmental conditions experienced by the country.

The research findings revealed a severe structural deterioration in the efficiency of agricultural land utilization in Syria during the 2010–2022 period. The stability of the total arable area was accompanied by a doubling of the percentage of unutilized land (fallow and abandoned), effectively taking one-fifth of the productive land out of actual exploitation. This deterioration resulted from the destruction of irrigation infrastructure and energy shortages, which led to a sharp and sustained decline in the share of irrigated agriculture and an increased reliance on volatile rainfed agriculture. Rainfed farming proved severely exposed to drought challenges. In contrast, natural and geographical indicators (such as forest cover and non-productive resources) showed high structural stability, while urban expansion registered slow and haphazard growth. Rangeland resources continued to suffer from marginal, cumulative degradation. These results confirm the worsening food security index and attribute it to the impact of external pressures on the Syrian agricultural system.