Soil protection critical for Europe's economy and ecosystems - 21 February 2012.
Soil is one of the planet's invaluable resources but continues to be degraded in Europe. Together, the mineral particles, water, air, organic matter, and living organisms that constitute soil perform key functions which underpin our society.
Soil is a vital, non-renewable resource for
ecosystems, playing an essential role in services such as water purification
and food production. It is also a major global carbon sink, with significant
potential to remove climate-changing gases from the atmosphere.
The European Environment Agency (EEA) has joined
forces with the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre on 'The state of soil in Europe', a comprehensive scientific
report highlighting the need to protect and maintain soil in a co-ordinated way
across the European Union. The report warns that failure to tackle increased
soil degradation could eventually compromise food production. Moreover, degraded
soil is less able to prevent droughts and flooding and stop biodiversity loss.
The EEA reported in its
last flagship report that Europe's soils are subject to erosion and
landslides. Organic matter and biodiversity are both declining in some areas,
while compaction, salinisation, and contamination are also significant issues.
All these problems have considerable economic and environmental consequences.
For example, soil erosion by water affects around 16% of Europe's land area. It
is largely the result of poor land management, such as deforestation,
overgrazing, construction activities and forest fires.
For further information on the threats to Europe's
soils, see the 2010 EEA assessment, which includes asummary
of key facts and key
messages. These sources focus on how unsustainable human use and management
of land is leading to increased soil degradation, and the loss of a resource
that is fundamental to life on the planet.
Source: www.eea.europe.eu
February 21, 2012.