Considering the figures given in the foreword and found in the literature about the on-going and increasing degradation of land and land-based ecosystems and their productivity, this indicates a pressing need to re-design current policies and clearly defined guidance for future action for sustainable land management.

The aim of this paper is to analyze the structure of forest landscape and its impact on biodiversity in the Bauska District, Latvia. The database of the State Forest Service and field research from 1994 to 2004 were used. Diversity and protection of the current forest ecosystems were described using different forest classification methods. The structure of tree species and their age was analyzed. Analysis indicated a decrease of oak forests by 3.5% of their native vegetation area and a high proportion of drained forests, as well as a disproportional age structure of forest ecosystems.

In Greece, there is no official inventory for the activity land use, land use change and forestry. The national forest inventory was completed in 1992. Using the data of this inventory, the carbon store of woody biomass of Greece has been estimated by FAO-TBFRA (2000) as 52.04 millions t C, of which 46.36 millions t C is above stump biomass and 8.67 millions t C is stump and root biomass.

Using the database of eight Central and Eastern European transition economies compiled from the World Bank collection of World Development Indicators, the authors examine the relationship between high contract-intensive money as an indicator of contractual and property rights (or a general measure of the quality of governance and institutions) and performance of several macroeconomic indicators (GDP growth, FDI to GDP ratio, employment rate etc.) over the period from 1990 to 2011. The Pearson's correlation coefficients were used to determine the strength of the relationships.

In Latvia the construction of new transport infrastructure objects or reconstruction of existing ones increasingly generates necessity to expand an area of land under auto roads (right of way), as well as activates necessity of efficiency of real property expropriation process. In frame of research the correlation between expropriated land and total area of affected land parcels have been analyzed in two different projects of road development – project of new road and project of road reconstruction.

The paper gives an overview of the directions and results of research carried out in geodesy and land management at the Latvia University of Agriculture from the year 1939, when the Surveying Department (later the Department of Geodesy) was established, up to the present day. Since the beginnings of the Department, researches in geodesy have been associated with problems of precise levelling: vertical movements of the earth crust, deformation of buildings and structures, as well as accuracy evaluation of geodetic instruments.

This paper describes the application of geomorphological approach for environmental management and conservation of landforms. Specifically, we discuss the contribution of geomorphological field survey and adapted matrix methodology (in combination with understanding of geology) to identification, study and evaluation of those abiotic nature elements which represent geological and geomorphological heritage. We describe a case study carried out in that part of the protected landscape area “Augsdaugava” which encompasses the Upper Daugava spillway valley.

The current support policy is increasing gaps in land management intensity among different regions of the country. The support policy for agricultural and rural development does not deal with solutions for land abandonment or environmental objectives, because the abandonment is becoming a hidden, environmental policy and rural development process, which is more expensive for society. Some alternative approaches and principles for designing a new agricultural land policy for Latvia could decrease the policy costs and make land management more targeted and acceptable for society.

The basic agricultural structure in Poland consists of small and medium family-owned farmsteads. Public funds grant their support primarily to farmers capable of competing efficiently within the EU market. In most cases, that means farmsteads covering a larger area. It is the real property market that regulates the agrarian structure. Therefore, the goal of this paper is to present the situation on the farmland market in respect to Poland's membership in the European Union.

In the research was submitted agricultural land market in Poland, in the political system transformation conditions, with consideration it function, stimulating the structural change of farming including territorial structure. There were characterized changes occurring in polish country with indication of the following processes: growing strength of agricultural land market, increasing role of agricultural lands' lease and also progressive process of land concentration and changing ownership relations.