Analysis of Factors Influencing the Formation of Bioregions

Bioregions are examples of true sustainable development. The desire for sustainability within local communities leads to agreements and the formation of bioregions in which sustainable development is based on practical action. This paper analyzes the concept of bioregions, emphasizing holistic approaches applied to, and relationships with, economic, environmental and social factors in pathways and the pace of specialization for the development of territories, thereby complementing the agricultural dimension and paying special attention to the application of organic farming techniques. The formation of bioregions is based on the desires of local communities, but at the same time, we believe that there are objective factors that influence the development of bioregions. Thirteen factors that could affect the creation of bioregions were selected using factors referred to in research papers, as well as by adding original ones. These factors can be divided into the sustainable agriculture and tourism groups, in which high values indicate a high potential for the formation of bioregions, as well as the intensive agriculture factor group, where high values indicate the benefits of large-scale economies that hinder the formation of bioregions. Cluster analysis identified six potential bioregions in Latvia, each with distinct socio-economic, environmental, and agricultural characteristics: the metropolitan region (dominant indicator-PIT per capita, value 890 EUR), the tourism cluster (dominant indicator—tourists served as a % of the total population, value 28%), the extensive agriculture cluster (dominant indicator—organically certified UAA, value 14,645 ha), the nature and education cluster (dominant indicator—protected areas, value 7587 ha), the intensive agriculture cluster (dominant indicator—profit from productive land, value 278 EUR ha−1), as well as a non-specialized cluster (no strongly dominant indicators). This paper describes each cluster and discusses its potential for bioregion development.