Nearly all of the food and fibres used by humans are produced on soil. Soil is also essential for
water and ecosystem health. It is second only to the oceans as a global carbon sink, with an
important role in the potential slowing of climate change. Soil functions depend on a multitude
of soil organisms which makes it an important part of our biodiversity. Nevertheless, soil in
many parts of Europe is being over-exploited, degraded and irreversibly lost due to impacts from
industrial activities and land use change, leading to soil sealing, contamination, erosion and loss of
organic carbon. Due to these problems, legislation for the protection of soils has been proposed at
EU level.
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Created 18 Oct 2010
Published 25 Nov 2010
Nearly all of the food and fibres used by humans are produced on soil. Soil is also essential for
water and ecosystem health. It is second only to the oceans as a global carbon sink, with an
important role in the potential slowing of climate change. Soil functions depend on a multitude
of soil organisms which makes it an important part of our biodiversity. Nevertheless, soil in
many parts of Europe is being over-exploited, degraded and irreversibly lost due to impacts from
industrial activities and land use change, leading to soil sealing, contamination, erosion and loss of
organic carbon. Due to these problems, legislation for the protection of soils has been proposed at
EU level.
Soil
is defined as the top layer of the earth's crust. It is composed of
mineral particles, organic matter, water, air and living organisms — a
non-renewable resource which performs many vital functions. Soil has a
role as a habitat and gene pool; serves as a platform for human
activities, landscape and heritage; and acts as a provider of raw
materials. These functions are worthy of protection because of their
socio-economic as well as environmental importance.
The
soil resources of Europe are diverse, reflecting a combination of
geology, climate, topography and land use developed over thousands of
years. Northern European soils tend to have higher organic matter
content than those in the south. Relatively young soils dominate central
Europe. Poorly developed soils or soil with accumulations of calcium
carbonate characterise the Mediterranean basin. The slow rates of soil
formation mean that soil must be regarded as essentially non-renewable.
The unsustainable human use and management of land is leading to
increased soil degradation and a loss of a key resource that is
fundamental to life on the planet.
Different EU policies for water, waste, chemicals, industrial pollution prevention,
nature protection, pesticides and agriculture are contributing to soil
protection. However, as these policies have other aims and other scopes
of action, they are not sufficient to ensure an adequate level of
protection for all soil in Europe. The prevention of soil degradation is
also limited by the scarcity of data. In this context, the European
Commission adopted a Soil Thematic Strategy (COM(2006) 231) and a
proposal for a Soil Framework Directive (COM(2006) 232) on 22 September
2006 with the objective to protect soils across the EU.
Soil degradation: state, trends and impacts
Erosion:
105 million ha, or 16 % of Europe's total land area (excluding Russia),
were estimated to be affected by water erosion in the 1990s. 42 million
ha are affected by wind erosion.
Organic matter decline: the soils of EU-27 Member States store about 79
billion tonnes of carbon. The storage capacity of soil is sensitive to
climatic conditions and there is a high risk that global warming will
turn soils into a major source of greenhouse gases. Some 45 % of soils
in Europe have a low or very low organic matter content (meaning 0–2 %
organic carbon) and 45 % have a medium content (meaning 2–6 % organic
carbon). This issue is found especially in southern European countries,
as well as in parts of France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Norway and
Belgium.
Compaction: the use of heavy machinery in agriculture can induce soil
compaction. It reduces the capacity of soil to store and conduct water,
makes it less permeable for plant roots and increases the risk of soil
loss by water erosion. Estimates of areas at risk of soil compaction
vary. Some authors estimate 36 % of European subsoils as having high or
very high susceptibility to compaction. Other sources report 32 % of
soils being highly vulnerable and 18 % moderately affected.
Salinisation
stands for the accumulation of salts and other substances from
irrigation water and fertilizers which makes soils unsuitable for plant
growth. It affects approximatly 3.8 million ha in Europe. The main
driver is the inappropriate management of irrigated agricultural land.
Landslides occur more frequently in areas with: highly erodible soils
or clay-based sub-soils; steep slopes; intense and abundant
precipitation; or abandoned terraces, such as the Alpine and
Mediterranean regions. Until now there are no data on the total area
affected in the EU.
Contamination: due to more than 200 years of industrialisation, soil
contamination is a wide-spread problem in Europe. The most frequent
contaminants are heavy metals and mineral oil. The number of sites where
potentially polluting activities have taken place now stands at
approximately 3 million.
Sealing occurs when agricultural or other non-developed
land is built on. It normally includes the removal of top soil layers
and leads to the loss of important soil functions, such as food
production or water storage. On average, built-up and other man-made areas take up around 4 % of the total area in
EEA countries (data exclude Greece, Switzerland and the United
Kingdom), but not all of this is actually sealed. In the decade
1990–2000 the sealed area in the EU-15 increased by 6 %, and productive soil continues to be lost to urban sprawl and transport infrastructures.
Biodiversity decline: soil biodiversity is built on a great variety
of soil organisms from bacteria to mammals that shape the metabolic
capacity of the ecosystem and many other functions of soils. Soil
biodiversity is affected by all of the degradation processes listed
above, and all driving forces mentioned apply (equally) to the loss of
soil biodiversity.
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