Currently Lithuania is undergoing another land reform changing the Soviet-type land use structure into one based upon small privately owned plots. Intensive economic, primarily construction activities cause a decrease in the total area of natural and semi-natural territories, speed up landscape degradation and changes in its structure. The same tendencies can be observed in protected areas.
Human activities cause degradation and destruction processes in the natural soil layer.
Among such processes is erosion caused by water and wind resulting in degraded, medium-level or heavily destroyed soils which account for over 1.6 percent of the country s area. Protection of biota resources. During the recent decade forests degradation increased, the main reasons being atmospheric pollution and unfavourable natural conditions, such as strong winds, draughts, increasing numbers of pests and hoofed animals. Of late, secondary forest resources have diminished both in area and quality. Still, Lithuania can boast a fairly large number of natural and semi-natural territories which are home for such plant, animal and fungi species which have since long become extinct in developed Western European countries.