Soils can store large amounts of carbon, they purify water, are an important source of nutrients for plants and are essential for feeding the world’s population. In order for these important functions to be preserved, experts say their protection must be urgently promoted. According to the “Soil Atlas” presented in Berlin, many soils are in poor condition due to surface sealing, intensive agriculture and climate change.
The publishers are the Heinrich Böll Foundation, the Association for the Environment and Nature Conservation Germany (BUND) and the TMG Think Tank for Sustainability. The Foundation and BUND publish an annual atlas on a specific topic, which is intended to impart knowledge.
55 hectares of soil are lost every day
Overall, according to the editors, more than 60 percent of the soil in the European Union alone is considered damaged. 50 to 80 percent of the world’s soils have lost their humus content, said Imme Scholz, board member of the Heinrich Böll Foundation, on Tuesday in Berlin. Humus is the finely decomposed organic matter in soils. It influences soil quality, provides nutrients and promotes soil structure.
There could be up to 15 tons of small organisms in the soil per hectare, said BUND chairman Olaf Bandt. The biodiversity is enormous. It is particularly damaging that 55 hectares of land are lost every day in Germany for housing development or traffic areas. This corresponds to slightly more than the area of Vatican City. According to Bandt, agricultural soils, forest soils and nature conservation soils are affected.
As a result of development, soils can no longer absorb or breathe water, which means that biological diversity is dwindling and susceptibility to floods and droughts increases. According to Scholz, this can have devastating consequences, as can currently be seen in the flood disaster in Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. The conversion of fertile soil into settlement and structural area has decreased since the previous “Soil Atlas” was published in 2015, said Jes Weigelt, deputy managing director of the think tank. Nevertheless, the number of newly sealed areas is still “significantly too high”.
According to the “Soil Atlas”, the formation of deserts should also be viewed critically. This is when soils are so damaged that they can no longer fulfill their functions or can no longer fulfill their functions. “13 EU member states now state that they are affected by desertification,” said Scholz. These are not just countries in the Mediterranean region, but also countries like Hungary and Bulgaria.
According to experts, soils can store more carbon than forests and are an important habitat for many animals. At least a quarter of all living things on earth inhabit soils, as explained in the “Soil Atlas”. “Soils are vital for adapting to climate change,” said Scholz. According to this, healthy soils with a balanced pore structure absorb water like a sponge and release it again when necessary. “It is essential that the soils are protected through agriculture so that they can fulfill this function.”
Bandt cites the cultivation of catch crops, the avoidance of pesticides and the planting of hedges as examples of effective soil protection in agriculture. They protected arable land from erosion – the loss of soil due to wind or water – and promoted biodiversity. The editors of the Atlas call for soil to be treated on an equal footing with the legally enshrined protected goods of water and air. There is also a need for independent soil protection law at the European level.
