Brussels, 12/04/2012 (Agence Europe) - Just like water, soil is a precious resource that we need to preserve. To help member states tackle one of the main causes of soil degradation, the European Commission published new guidelines, on Thursday 12 April, on best practice to limit, mitigate and compensate soil sealing in the EU. Soil sealing often affects fertile agricultural land, puts biodiversity at risk, increases the risk of flooding and water scarcity, and contributes to global warming. These guidelines call for smarter spatial planning and using more permeable materials to preserve our soil by drawing on examples of policies, legislation, funding schemes, local planning tools, information campaigns and many other best practices implemented throughout the EU. The guidelines underline the importance of an integrated approach to spatial planning and advocate specific regional approaches and the mobilisation of unused resources at local level.
Environment Commissioner Janez Potocnik explained: “The loss of soil resources through urbanisation and the conversion of our landscape is one of the major environmental challenges Europe is facing. There is an urgent need to use this valuable resource more wisely, in order to secure its many vital services for future generations. We simply cannot pave over our chances for a sustainable future.”
The challenge is enormous because Europe is the world's most urbanised continent. An additional 1,000 km² (an area larger than the city of Berlin) is claimed every year for human use, a high share of which ends up being sealed. If this trend continues at the same speed, in 100 years we would convert an area comparable to the territory of France and Spain combined.
Soil sealing can be limited through smart spatial planning and limiting urban sprawl. Development potential inside urban areas can be used instead, through the regeneration of abandoned industrial areas (brownfields), for example. Mitigating measures include using permeable materials instead of cement or asphalt, supporting “green infrastructure”, and making wider use of natural water harvesting systems. Where on-site mitigation measures are insufficient, compensation measures that enhance soil functions elsewhere may be considered.
Soil formation is a very slow process (it takes centuries to build up a centimetre), so soil sealing causes significant damage to soil and often results in permanent loss. The Commission emphasises that this is why, while infrastructure development must be supported in order to fuel economic growth, there is a need for more efficient and responsible land management.
Existing funding policies for infrastructure development are currently being carefully reviewed in order to reduce subsidies that may act as drivers for unsustainable land take and soil sealing. Reducing the share of urbanisation fees in municipal budgets can also support long term planning.
The “Roadmap to a Resource Efficient Europe” issued by the European Commission on 20 September 2011 suggests that by 2020, EU policies take into account their direct and indirect impact on land use, and that the rate of land take (e.g. the loss of agricultural, semi-natural or natural land) is on track with the aim of achieving no net land take by 2050. The directive on the sole protection is the cornerstone of the thematic strategy of the same name but is still blocked at the Council. Guidelines will be presented to all the different stakeholders during the conference on soil remediation and soil sealing hosted by the Commission on 10-11 May 2012 in Brussels. (AN/transl.fl)