Wasting Europe’s Heritage—the Need for Soil Protection

Summary

Trends in the use of European Community land over the last two hundred years suggest three major impacts, each of which has consequences for soil protection. First is the mass sterilisation of land resources for industrialisation and urbanisation realising economic value with little concern, until recent times, for environmental effects. Secondly is the growth in airborne pollution, in which various types of fall-out erode vegetation cover and soil quality and spreads into the hydrological system and hence to other land parcels. Thirdly is the less visible but highly pernicious effect of changing agricultural practices on soil quality which again, until recently, has been largely neglected in favour of economic gain. This paper seeks, in a provocative yet constructive way, to analyse these three trends; to assess the extent to which they are reversible; and to examine means for ameliorating their effects by reference to examples from throughout the European Community. Positive contributions by the European Commission are given particular emphasis.