D2.1 Literature review and existing models report

The scope of this document is to review the state-of-the-art of marginal lands, mainly in
a European level, in order to define and classify them.
The concept of marginal land is a dynamic one and dependent of the scale,
environment, area, economic sector, etc. and can be derived from multiple variables. In
fact, more than one hundred and thirty variables related to environment (soil, climate,
productivity, terrain, etc.), land cover or socio-economic aspects have been identified,
and almost half of them can be applied using remote sensing. The definition of
marginality, or more precisely marginal land, differs according to the final goal of the
study.
The notion of land cover and land use and their role in the definition of marginal land
are addressed in the present document, especially in the frame of the EU climate
action.
Taking into account the above, a definition of marginal land coherent with the
objectives of the MAIL project can be established. This definition is, therefore, the
starting point of the project, in which the identification and classification of marginal
lands are planned to be applied, among a series of actions aimed at triggering these
areas as carbon sinks.
Finally, this deliverable responds to the need to provide a framework for the rest of
actions covered in the MAIL project.