The production of animal food – thus animal husbandry in general – depends on biodiversity and plays an important role in shaping biodiversity at the same time. Since the Neolithic, agriculture and animal husbandry have significantly increased the diversity of landscapes and species within Europe. The European continent used to be covered with forest; new landscape features emerged with the expansion of agriculture, including fields, pastures, orchards and cultivated landscapes (such as meadows). Currently more than 47 % or 210 million hectares of arable and grassland areas, which equates to almost half of the surface in Europe (EU-27), are used for agriculture. Consequently, 50 % of European species depend on agricultural habitats. This symbiotic and beneficial relationship between agriculture and biodiversity has altered fundamentally since the 1950ies.