nature's supply as of the early 1980s and has exceeded it by about 20% since 1999 (Wackernagel et al., 2001). This kind of "footprinting" is a way to translate human activities into appropriate areas. There are different approaches to this exercise (e.g., Johansson, 2005). Although the method of calculating the ecological footprint just using one single measure has its limits and may be criticized, the basic message has been confirmed by the Millennium Assessment (2006) and  other  recent  studies   (e.g.,  www.RedefiningProgress .org).
     To use a concrete example, in Sweden, thanks to its large forest resources, the total ecological footprint per citi­zen is 8.17 global ha per capita with no deficit (Wackernagel et al., 2001). However, even Sweden is extremely depen­dent on areas outside its borders for its food consumption (Deutsch, 2004; Johansson, 2005). There has been a de­crease in agricultural land in Sweden after WWII. Between 1951 and 1992 about 20% of Swedish agricultural land has been reallocated; most of it has been afforested or urbanized (Björklund et al., 1999). Furthermore, the direct foodprint has decreased in size due to agricultural intensification with increased use of external inputs.
     The total land area of Sweden is 41.1 million ha, of which a major proportion is mountain and forest area, not suited for cultivation. In 1997-2000 Sweden had an average agricultural area of 3.2 million ha, with 2.8 million ha being arable land and more than 0.4 million ha permanent pasture land. This corresponds to 0.31 ha of arable land per capita in Sweden, (compared to the world average of 0.23 ha per capita), and 0.05 ha of pasture land not suited for cultiva­tion, (compared to the world average of 0.58 ha per capita) (FAOSTAT, 2003). During that same period, one-third of the area, which Sweden required for food consumption, was outside Swedish borders (Johansson 2005). In 1999, almost 80% of the agricultural area needed to produce manufactured feed for Swedish animals was outside Swed­ish borders and 60% of all imports were for animal feed (Deutsch, 2004). The total agricultural area, in Sweden and worldwide, supporting Sweden's annual food consumption in 1997-2000 was, on average, approximately four million ha, or 0.44 ha per capita (Johansson, 2005).
      As in any economic activity, in the farm, various pro­duction factors are combined in different proportions with the aim of producing foods and raw materials. This process varies between the different existing systems and is based on specific techniques or production practices which could be defined as an ensemble of knowledge, resources and pro­ceedings used by a system to obtain a particular product.
     In many of the densely populated parts of northwestern Europe and since the late 1980s also in the new member states, fertile land is lost and soil is sealed by urbanization, with increasing demand for built-up area per capita, roads, industrial terrain, etc. In the Netherlands, the land covered by built-up areas is already around 10% (Klijn and Vullings, 2005). In its communication on soil protection the Commis­sion of the European Communities states that there is evi­dence that soil may be increasingly threatened by a range of human activities, which may degrade it and its functions, so vital for life, thus undermining sustainability (CEC, 2002). In the EU, an estimated 52 million hectares, representing more than 16% of the total land area, are affected by some kind

of degradation process. In the new member states this figure rises to 35%. Soil degradation in dry areas is also known as desertification. Areas that risk desertification include central and southeast Spain, central and southern Italy, southern France and Portugal and large parts of Greece. The major threats to soil functions in Europe are erosion, a decline in organic matter, local and diffuse contamination, sealing, compaction, a decline in biodiversity and salinization (Van Lynden, 2000; CEC, 2002). These threats are complex and interlinked and although unevenly spread across Europe, their dimension is continental. The biggest threat is soil ero­sion by water. Within EU-25 it is most serious in central Europe and the Mediterranean region, where 50-70% of agricultural land is at moderate to high risk.

Water
In addition to domestic supplies, water is also provided for (Ashley and Cashman, 2006):
•     Agriculture: irrigation of crops, livestock, horticulture, very dependent on activities, local soils and resources and climate;
•     Trade and industry: factories, shops and institutions such as hospitals, also for power generation and cool­ing. Consumption is very specific to the nature of the activity, but in a number of developed countries indus­trial demand has fallen due to a general decline in heavy industry in favor of service industries; better use of re­cycling and reuse/recovery of water locally; and better water accounting and auditing, reducing wastage and unnecessary use. Overall, demand in this sector is ex­pected to rise by a small percentage worldwide from current levels of about 20% of global water use.
•     Public  amenities:  parks,  street washing,  firefighting, flushing mains and sewers. This may be water provided free of charge (and unmeasured) where the water service provider (WSP) is a municipality. Firefighting is a major reason for ensuring that water main pressures are main­tained and for supplying high-rise buildings.
•     Losses: in distribution systems, domestic leaks and drip­ping taps, where "unaccounted for" water is due to me­tering errors, unauthorized use and general unrecorded consumption (Alegre et al., 2000). Unaccounted for water (including all losses) may comprise from 6% up to 55% of the total water supplied in areas with aging mains and service pipes.

Agriculture consumes about 70% of all freshwater with­drawn from lakes, waterways  and aquifers  around the world (FAO, 2007). The same figure holds true for NAE (Shiklomanov, 1999). It takes 1,000 to 2,000 liters of water to produce one kilogram of wheat and 13,000 to 15,000 liters to produce the same quantity of grain-fed beef (FAO, 2007).
     Water use by agriculture is primarily determined by the development of irrigated land use, but also by cattle-rearing and people's domestic needs (Figures 5-1 and 5-2. The EU has 9% of its agricultural production under irrigation (13 million ha), over 75% of this is in Spain, Italy, France and Greece. More than 22 million ha (18% of total cropland) are irrigated in the US, over 80% of which is in the West (Gollenhon et al., 2006). In agriculture the efficiency of wa-