Abandonment, when it came, crept in from the outskirts of Tyurkmen, Bulgaria. Homes at the edge of town were first to go, then peripheral stores. It moved inward, slow but inexorable, swallowing bus shelters, pharmacies, cinemas, and cafes. The school closed. This is a poignant example of a much larger issue facing communities across the globe: rural abandonment. Today, the post office is one of the last institutions sustaining human occupation in Tyurkmen. Dimitrinka Dimcheva, a 56-year-old post officer, keeps it open two days a week. Once a thriving town of over 1,200, Tyurkmen is now home to fewer than 200 people. This unsettling trend of rural abandonment, leaving behind ghost towns and empty landscapes, is a worldwide phenomenon with far-reaching consequences.
The Global Phenomenon of Rural Abandonment
Dimcheva remembers the bustling life of the village, filled with weddings, dances, and young people. Now, she says, “life in the villages is dying.” Thousands of similar villages are scattered across Bulgaria. After the fall of communism, people flocked to cities, emptying many villages to the point of obliteration. Almost 300 villages are completely abandoned, and over 1,000 have populations below 30, mostly very elderly. Bulgaria’s population has dropped from nearly 9 million in 1989 to fewer than 6.5 million.
The Ripple Effect of Rural Abandonment: A Global Perspective
This demographic change isn’t unique to Bulgaria. Globally, the percentage of people living in rural areas has decreased by almost a third over the past half-century. Farming is increasingly industrial and concentrated, with over half of the global population now living in or around cities, expected to rise to 70% by 2050. People leave their homes, often leaving everything as they found it. Christmas baubles hang from empty houses, slowly overtaken by spiders.
The Abandoned Land: An Untapped Opportunity
Scientists estimate up to 400 million hectares of abandoned land globally. In the US, around 30 million hectares of farmland have been abandoned since the 1980s. Further displacement is expected as the climate crisis renders more places unlivable. This abandonment has drawn little attention. Prof He Yin of Kent State University is using remote sensing to create global maps of abandoned land. He notes that while land expansion is discussed, abandonment is often overlooked. This raises critical questions about the future of these lands.
Nature’s Reclaimed Spaces: A Biodiversity Conundrum
Alongside depopulation comes the question of what happens to the abandoned land. Preserving forests, grasslands, and healthy ecosystems is crucial to a livable planet. Abandoned land represents an opportunity but also a question mark.
The Return of Nature: Observations in Bulgaria
Ecologist Gergana Daskalova, studying 30 villages across Bulgaria, is gathering data on the return of forests, plant life, and changes in bird populations. She notes that the clock of abandonment measures the end of human impact and the onset of environmental change. Daskalova grew up in Tyurkmen, witnessing the creep of abandonment firsthand. She uses her research to study how human activity shapes the natural world, realizing that abandonment can affect biodiversity. Abandoned areas often present a surprising picture. Some are overrun by brambles, while others are colonized by invasive species, like Canadian goldenrod, creating monocultures that have negative effects on biodiversity.
The Complexities of Nature’s Comeback
While nature can reclaim abandoned land, this return isn’t always straightforward or beneficial for all species. Human presence can actually help maintain biodiversity. A diverse landscape with light, created by human activities like grazing, can sustain far more species than a dense forest. Humans have been altering landscapes for millennia, using fire and tools to create mosaics of habitats (meadows, gardens, forests) that can be more biodiverse than untouched forests.
A Balancing Act: Humans and the Environment
The role of megafauna in maintaining open landscapes is also important to consider. Humans now fill that role, playing a vital part in shaping ecosystems. Recent human activity, like deforestation and industrial consumption, has been disastrous, but nature’s restoration isn’t simply about human absence but the form our future presence takes. In Tyurkmen, you can still find pockets of gentle human presence, maintaining diverse landscapes. Slavcho Petkov Stoyanov, a local herder, keeps his sheep in the area, maintaining diverse and open spaces. This is a critical point; neglecting these places can leave them open to exploitation by industrial interests. For biodiversity to thrive, time is crucial. However, the appearance of new occupants on abandoned lands can mean that human activity, even if temporary, is still a strong influence on the natural environment.
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