Brussels, 23/05/2011 (Agence Europe) - Every year in Europe, land covering an area larger than the city of Berlin is lost to urban sprawl and transport infrastructure. This unsustainable trend threatens the availability of fertile soil and groundwater reservoirs for future generations. A report published by the European Commission on Monday 23 May recommends a three-tiered approach focused on limiting the progression of soil sealing, mitigating its effects and compensating valuable soil losses by action in other areas.
“We cannot afford to continue paving over ground”, stated Environment Commissioner Janez Potoènik. “This does not mean halting economic development or the upgrading of our infrastructures, but it does require a more sustainable approach”, he reasoned. The report presented on Monday proposes a three-tiered approach to address the issue: - limiting the progression of soil sealing with improved spatial planning or by reassessing “negative” subsidies that indirectly encourage soil sealing; - mitigation actions to reduce damage when soil sealing cannot be avoided; these include using permeable surfaces instead of conventional asphalt or cement and building green roofs; - compensation measures to partially offset soil losses in one area by measures taken somewhere else; these may take the form of payments, as in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, or the restoration of already sealed soil - examples of good practice have been identified, for instance, in Dresden and Vienna.
The results of this report will feed into a Commission technical document on soil sealing, which is being drawn up with the help of national experts. The document will provide national, regional and local authorities with guidance on best practice for limiting soil sealing and mitigating its effects, and should be finalised in early 2012.
Soil is “sealed” when it is covered over with an impermeable material such as asphalt or concrete. Between 1990 and 2000, at least 275 hectares of soil were lost per day in the EU, amounting to 1,000 km² per year. Half of this soil is permanently sealed by impermeable layers of buildings, roads and car parking. According to the report, this trend has been reduced to 252 hectares per day in recent years, but the rate of land consumption is still worrying. Between 2000 and 2006, the EU average increase in artificial areas was 3%, with increases of 14% in Ireland and Cyprus and 15% in Spain.
Soil sealing causes an irreversible loss of the biological functions of soil. Since water can neither infiltrate nor evaporate, water run-off increases, sometimes leading to catastrophic floods. Landscapes are fragmented and habitats become too small or too isolated to support certain species. In addition, the food production potential of land is lost forever. The Commission's Joint Research Centre estimates that four million tonnes of wheat are lost every year to soil sealing.
Many European regions are affected by increasing soil sealing, including half of the Dutch regions, eight provinces in Italy (Vercelli, Lodi, Verona, Piacenza, Parma, Campobasso, Matera, Catanzaro), three French departments (Vendée, Tarn-et-Garonne, Corrèze), the Poznan region in Poland, Western Styria in Austria, the Põhja-Eesti region in Estonia, and the Jugovzhodna region in Slovenia.
The Commission's Soil Thematic Strategy has identified soil degradation, including soil sealing, as a serious problem at EU level. To protect European soils the Commission presented a proposal for a Soil Framework Directive in 2006, which had the support of the European Parliament. However, due to opposition from some member states, the proposal remains mired in the Council.
The report presented on Monday, “Overview of best practices for limiting soil sealing or mitigating its effects in EU27” can be consulted at: http: //ec.europa.eu/environment/soil/sealing.htm (O.L./transl.rt)