Knowledge and data

European Environment Agency

This EU agency provides independent information on the environment and regularly compiles European data on soil and land. Below are some relevant reports: 

1. EEA Signals 2021 — Europe’s nature (2021)
2. EEA SIGNALS 2020 - Towards zero pollution in Europe (2020)
3. The European environment - state and outlook 2020 (2019)
4. EEA SIGNALS 2019 - Land and soil in Europe (2019)
5. Climate change adaptation in the agriculture sector in Europe (2019)
6. Landscapes in transition — An account of 25 years of land cover change in Europe (2017)
7. The direct and indirect impacts of EU policies on land (2016)

Studies and Publications

1. Pilot project to evaluate and address the presence of lindane and HCH in the EU (Tauw, 2022)
   
   The main project deliverable was to compile an inventory for sites that may have been affected by HCH. The sites in this inventory include lindane and HCH production and processing sites, waste deposits and landfills, storage facilities and waste treatment plants. For each EU Member State, a report featuring a country-specific list of such sites was prepared. Other deliverables are a report about the use and legacy of HCH in the EU, and support in developing an EU-wide strategy for sustainably managing HCH-impacted sites.
    
   • Project summary
   • The use and legacy of HCH in the EU (a guide to identify potentially HCH-impacted sites)
   • Outline of a strategy to resolve the legacy of lindane production in the EU
   • Summary report EU-wide inventory 
   • (AT, BE, BG, CY, CZ, DE, DK, EE, EL, ES, FI, FR, HR, HU, IE, IT, LT, LU, LV, MT, NL, PL, PT, RO, SE, SI, SK)
   • Inventory of sites that are potentially impacted by HCH in EU Member States (map)
2. Providing support in relation to the implementation of soil and land-related Sustainable Development Goals at EU level (Wageningen Environmental Research, 2019)
   
   This project aimed to analyse the state of play of the implementation of land and soil-related SDGs in the EU and to compile and communicate good practices and provide recommendations for the implementation of land- and soil-related SDGs in the EU.
   
   The conference, 'Soil and the SDGs - Challenges and need for action', was also organised and took place in November 2019.
    
   • Final report of the project
   • Executive summary of the project
   • Conference report
   • Achieving land and soil-related sustainable development goals in Europe (brochure, 2020) ES DE FR
3. Soils4EU: Providing support in relation to the implementation of the EU Soil Thematic Strategy (Deltares, 2019)
   
   This study aimed to give insight into many aspects of soil management or land management by producing six in-depth reports that provide scientific background on a range of soil and soil policy-related issues in Europe and three policy briefs:
    
   • Drivers and transboundary impacts of soil degradation
   • Mapping and assessment of ecosystems and their soil ecosystem services
   • Review of economic, social and environmental impacts of and implementation barriers for soil protection and sustainable management measures for arable land across the EU
   • Identification of priority areas for improving consistency and interoperability of EU-wide and national soil monitoring and information systems
   • Importance of soils for societal challenges in Europe
   • Potential of Earth Observation for improved soil monitoring
   • Policy brief “Sustainable soil management”
   • Policy brief “Soil quality in spatial planning”
   • Importance of soils for societal challenges in Europe

4. Inventory and Assessment of Soil Protection Policy Instruments in EU Member States (Ecologic Institute, 2017)

   This project (see here) aimed to take stock of existing soil protection policies and measures at the EU and Member State levels. An online inventory of soil protection policy instruments (the Soil Wiki) has been developed. The Soil Wiki was compiled as an internal working tool to provide an overview of soil-relevant policy instruments at EU level. Therefore, the European Commission does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this study.

   See older studies on soil

EU funded research projects

1. Agriresearch factsheet: SOILS (June 2019)
2. EJP SOIL (2020-2025): Towards climate-smart sustainable management of agricultural soils
3. EXCALIBUR (2019-2024): Exploiting the multifunctional potential of belowground biodiversity in horticultural farming
4. SOILDIVERAGRO (2019-2024): Soil biodiversity enhancement in European agroecosystems to promote their stability and resilience by external input reduction and crop performance increase
5. RELACS (2018-2022): Replacement of Contentious Inputs in Organic Farming Systems
6. DIVERFARMING (2017-2022): Crop diversification and low-input farming across Europe: From practitioners' engagement and ecosystem services to increased revenues and value chain organisation
7. BEST4SOIL (2018-2021): Boosting 4 BEST practices for SOIL health in Europe
8. SOILCARE (2016-2021): Soil care for profitable and sustainable crop production in Europe
9. CIRCASA (2017-2020): Coordination of International Research Cooperation on Soil Carbon Sequestration in Agriculture
10. iSQAPER (2015-2020): Good agricultural management practices lead to better soil quality
11. RECARE (2013-2018): Preventing and Remediating degradation of soils in Europe through land care