Knowledge Agora

Title	In defence of soil biodiversity: Towards an inclusive protection in the European Union
ID_Doc	63543
Authors	Köninger, J; Panagos, P; Jones, A; Briones, MJI; Orgiazzi, A
Title	In defence of soil biodiversity: Towards an inclusive protection in the European Union
Year	2022
Published
Abstract	Since soil biodiversity sustains above-ground life, the European Union (EU) has recently announced its new Soil Strategy to better protect soil ecosystems as part of the Biodiversity Strategy for 2030. Also, the EU's Farm to Fork Strategy and the Zero Pollution Action Plan aim for soil protection. However, the status of soil biodiversity protection has not been comprehensively assessed. Therefore, we explored regulatory, incentive-based and knowledge-based instruments and strategic policy documents at the EU and national levels to determine whether they adequately protect soil biodiversity. Our review of 507 literature references concluded that only eight EU member states explicitly address threats to soil biodiversity in 14 regulatory instruments while 13 countries mainly focus on implicit threats to soil biodiversity, whereas six countries do not consider soil biodiversity. At the EU level, current directives and regulations only tackle individual threats to soil biodiversity. An EU-wide, legally binding protection could ensure a standardised minimum level of soil biodiversity protection while preventing surging costs of not acting. The EU Soil Health Law foreseen for 2023 could couple land management practices beneficial for soil biodiversity with incentive-based instruments. Simultaneously, models should be designed to predict soil biodiversity, considering soil biodiversity's spatial and temporal heterogeneity.
PDF	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2022.109475

Similar Articles

ID	Score	Article
64783		Arias-Navarro, C; Panagos, P; Jones, A; Amaral, MJ; Schneegans, A; Van Liedekerke, M; Wojda, P; Montanarella, L Forty years of soil research funded by the European Commission: Trends and future. A systematic review of research projects(2023)European Journal Of Soil Science, 74, 5
29448		Panagos, P; Montanarella, L; Barbero, M; Schneegans, A; Aguglia, L; Jones, A Soil priorities in the European Union(2022)
64729		Meurer, KHE; Hendriks, CMJ; Faber, JH; Kuikman, PJ; van Egmond, F; Garland, G; Putku, E; Barancikova, G; Makovnikova, J; Chenu, C; Herrmann, AM; Bispo, A How does national SOC monitoring on agricultural soils align with the EU strategies? An example using five case studies(2024)European Journal Of Soil Science, 75, 2
64423		Hermoso, V; Carvalho, SB; Giakoumi, S; Goldsborough, D; Katsanevakis, S; Leontiou, S; Markantonatou, V; Rumes, B; Vogiatzakis, IN; Yates, KL The EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030: Opportunities and challenges on the path towards biodiversity recovery(2022)
64437		Orgiazzi, A; Panagos, P; Fernández-Ugalde, O; Wojda, P; Labouyrie, M; Ballabio, C; Franco, A; Pistocchi, A; Montanarella, L; Jones, A LUCAS Soil Biodiversity and LUCAS Soil Pesticides, new tools for research and policy development(2022)European Journal Of Soil Science, 73, 5
64375		Panagos, P; Broothaerts, N; Ballabio, C; Orgiazzi, A; De Rosa, D; Borrelli, P; Liakos, L; Vieira, D; Van Eynde, E; Navarro, CA; Breure, T; Fendrich, A; Köninger, J; Labouyrie, M; Matthews, F; Muntwyler, A; Jimenez, JM; Wojda, P; Yunta, F; Marechal, A; Sala, S; Jones, A How the EU Soil Observatory is providing solid science for healthy soils(2024)European Journal Of Soil Science, 75, 3
64989		Vergamini, D; Olivieri, M; Andreoli, M; Bartolini, F Simulating policy mixes to reduce soil erosion and land abandonment in marginal areas: A case study from the Liguria Region (Italy)(2024)
62876		Montanarella, L; Panagos, P The relevance of sustainable soil management within the European Green Deal(2021)
65015		Cornu, S; Keesstra, S; Bispo, A; Fantappie, M; van Egmond, F; Smreczak, B; Wawer, R; Pavlu, L; Sobocká, J; Bakacsi, Z; Farkas-Iványi, K; Molnár, S; Moller, AB; Madenoglu, S; Feiziene, D; Oorts, K; Schneider, F; Gonçalves, MD; Mano, R; Garland, G; Skalsky, R; O'Sullivan, L; Kasparinskis, R; Chenu, C National soil data in EU countries, where do we stand?(2023)European Journal Of Soil Science, 74.0, 4
63703		Keesstra, SD; Chenu, C; Munkholm, LJ; Cornu, S; Kuikman, PJ; Thorsoe, MH; Besse-Lototskaya, A; Visser, SM European agricultural soil management: Towards climate-smart and sustainability, knowledge needs and research approaches(2024)European Journal Of Soil Science, 75, 1