Environmental Efficiency of Greenhouse Agriculture in the Coast of Granada (Spain): Towards New Planning and Management Criteria

ABSTRACT

A successful assessment, prediction, management and planning of environmental impact (considering sustainability principles) will depend on the existence of a valid methodological approach. According to this, we have considered a set of key indicators combined with other references (reports, cartography…) as a suitable method to evaluate the environmental efficiency of greenhouse agriculture in comparison with other agricultures present in the Coast of Granada. Our main conclusion is that greenhouses are producing the most important territorial impacts and externalities related to the unplanned land occupation and to the pollutants production and discharge. The traditional management practices and planning documents are not useful to reduce the environmental conflicts caused by greenhouses in the Coast of Granada. So we have proposed new environmental planning and management criteria to improve the environmental efficiency of greenhouses and to develop a better integration of this agro-industrial use on the coastal landscapes.