Projects per year
Abstract
There is currently no legislation at the European level that focuses exclusively
on soil conservation. A cross-policy analysis was carried out to identify gaps and overlaps
in existing EU legislation that is related to soil threats and functions. We found that three
soil threats, namely compaction, salinization and soil sealing, were not addressed in any of
the 19 legislative policies that were analyzed. Other soil threats, such as erosion, decline in
organic matter, loss of biodiversity and contamination, were covered in existing legislation,
but only a few directives provided targets for reducing the soil threats. Existing legislation
addresses the reduction of the seven soil functions that were analyzed, but there are very
few directives for improving soil functions. Because soil degradation is ongoing in Europe,
it raises the question whether existing legislation is sufficient for maintaining soil
resources. Addressing soil functions individually in various directives fails to account for
the multifunctionality of soil. This paper suggests that a European Soil Framework
Directive would increase the effectiveness of conserving soil functions in the EU.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 9538-9563 |
Journal | Sustainability |
Volume | 6 |
Issue number | 12 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2014 |
Keywords
- ecosystem services
- sustainable intensification
- management
- agriculture
- protection
- framework
- quality
- carbon
- classification
- conservation
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Dive into the research topics of 'Do Current European Policies Prevent Soil Threats and Support Soil Functions?'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Projects
- 2 Finished
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Tools for impact assessment (KB-17-001.01-001)
Roosenschoon, O. (Project Leader)
1/01/11 → 31/12/15
Project: LVVN project
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LIAISE – linking Impact Assessment Instruments to Sustainability Expertise. FP7 Network of Excellence (KB-14-004-013, KB-01-006-041)
Roosenschoon, O. (Project Leader)
1/01/09 → 31/12/14
Project: LVVN project