Head Office Press Office
- 24-Oct-2007 - With climate change taking
hold, soil needs protecting in equal measure
to air and water, says a new strategy to
be unveiled today (16 October) by the Environment
Agency.
"Soil is a living ecosystem that acts
as a buffer, protecting the environment
from harm," said Environment Agency
Soil Policy Manager Phil Chatfield.
"It is an essential link between air
and water, plays an important role in storing
greenhouse gases, can reduce downstream
flood risk and, of course, grows our food."
Soil: a precious resource is the Environment
Agency strategy for protecting, managing
and restoring soil, in the face of climate
change. The strategy prioritises work on:
• Understanding and raising awareness of
the storage and release of carbon in soils,
and the potential impact on climate change.
Conversely the impact of climate change
on soils.
• Ensuring soil management is considered
during environmental planning, policy, and
guidance, in equal measure to air and water
• Protecting agricultural soil as a living
resource that is vital to our economic wellbeing.
• Promoting good practice by industry to
prevent new contamination of soils and working
to clean-up existing contamination.
• Better understanding of soil biodiversity
and collaborating on work to develop soil
quality indicators for monitoring.
The Environment Agency’s soil strategy
follows 2004’s State of Soils report, that
found neglect and a lack of understanding
of soils was threatening to permanently
damage the resource.
"Leonardo da Vinci said that ‘we know
more about the movement of celestial bodies
than about the soil underfoot’ and 500 years
later not much has changed," Mr Chatfield
said.
"We use soil to grow most of our food,
while the organisms in soil keep our drinking
water clean, breaking down and locking away
substances that may be harmful to people
and wildlife. Soils also plays a vital role
in maintaining the balance of gasses in
the air we breathe.
"But in order to better understand
and protect soil, all those involved in
soil management, research and regulation
need to work together. Poorly managed soils
can increase downstream flood risk, bring
about soil erosion and contamination, prevent
rainfall from replenishing groundwater supplies,
and cause substantial economic costs, for
example through loss of crop yield and reduction
in fish stocks."
The Environment Agency strategy - Soil:
a precious resource - will be launched on
16th October 2007at a joint conference run
by the Institute of Professional Soil Scientists
and the Society of Chemical Industry at
14/15 Belgrave Square, London. To register
to attend please contact Emily Moss at emily.moss@soci.org
Soil - provider of food
What does it do?
Soil acts as an anchor for plants, providing
water, oxygen and nutrients for crops and
plants and produces more than 99 per cent
of the world's food.
What is happening?
23 per cent of the worlds usable land area
has been degraded to some extent, mainly
by soil erosion caused by overgrazing, deforestation
and agriculture.
The area of soil usable for cultivation
available per person has declined by more
than a fifth since 1975 (0.32 hectares to
0.25 hectares) - this is down to both soil
loss and population growth. The typical
western diet requires more than twice as
much usable soil - (0.6 hectares)
The equivalent of up to a 1cm thick layer
of soil can be lost each year from some
areas. This is unsustainable.
In England and Wales erosion moves some
2.2 million tonnes of arable topsoil every
year. Topsoil is the most fertile part of
the soil profile as it contains the most
nutrients. This is where seeds germinate.
Some 97 per cent of lowland grassland (such
as hay meadows) has been lost since 1930,
and 84 per cent of English heathland has
been lost since 1800.
Soil - regulator of air and water
What does it do?
Soil, water and air are strongly interdependent
and must be managed together. Soil plays
a key role in climate change, although its
exact role needs to be understood better.
UK soils are estimated to store 10 billion
tonnes of carbon - this is more than the
annual global emissions of carbon dioxide.
Changes in the way that the land is used
can result in some of this carbon being
released.
What is happening?
The equivalent of around two per cent of
the UK’s carbon emissions are cancelled
out by farming and forestry - this could
be increased by planting more woodland.
Nitrous oxide from soils contributes at
least four per cent of UK greenhouse emissions.
Levels are increased when inorganic nitrogen
fertilisers and manure are added to soil.
The nitrates from these fertilisers also
has a detrimental effect on the water we
use.
Soil erosion contributes towards increased
phosphate concentrations found in more than
half the rivers in England and Wales.
Soil - home for wildlife
What does it do?
Soil is a complex ecosystem, home to more
than 100 species of soil invertebrates and
fungi that are included in the UK Biodiversity
Action Plan. This includes the large garden
bumblebee, mole cricket and various beetles
and ants. Half of all species live in the
soil.
There are more bacteria in a handful of
soil than there are people on earth. Without
them, the nitrogen in soil would not be
available to plants. Of the tens of thousands
of bacterial species in soil, most have
yet to be identified. Little is known of
their specific roles.
What is happening?
Eroded soil can smother riverbed gravels,
harming aquatic plants, invertebrates and
the eggs of fish. Trout spawning beds in
29 out of 51 river reaches surveyed in Southern
England contained more than 15 per cent
of fine sediment, a threshold at which half
the egg and larvae are likely to die. Salmon
are also effected in this way.
Soil with high zinc content near a smelting
works in Avonmouth, Bristol was linked to
an absence of earthworms.
Most of the 35 terrestrial and freshwater
priority habitat types of the UK Biodiversity
Action Plan are adversely affected by soil
related problems. These include lowland
heathland, lowland meadows, upland hay meadows,
chalk rivers.
Soil - filter and flood defender
What does it do?
Soil acts as a filter for water, breaking
down chemicals and pathogens. The bacteria
and fungi in soil break down most pesticides
to less than one thousandth of their original
concentration. They are nature’s sewage
works and yet we have only imprecise knowledge
of how they are affected by changes in land
use and the use of pesticides.
Soil can act as a flood defence by slowing
the passage of rainfall to surface waters.
A hectare of soil can store and filter
a year’s worth of drinking water for around
1000 people.
Every year, soil recycles the carbon and
nutrients in 100 millions tonnes of livestock
manure and nearly five million tonnes of
treated sludge from human sewage. During
land applications, care needs to be taken
to ensure that contaminant levels do not
build up to unacceptable levels in the soil.
What is happening?
The Centre for Ecology and Hydrology and
the University of Wales, have shown that
in areas where trees have been planted,
rainfall infiltrates the soil at rates 60
times greater than that on adjacent grassland.
Pontbren Initiative, Wales.
In Pontbren, Llanfair Caereinion, near
Welshpool in mid-Wales, farmers are taking
a more sustainable approach to soil management.
The aim to restore woodland cover from 1.5%
to 15% of the catchment area. Using agri-environment
grants from the Forestry Commission and
Welsh Assembly Government and with advice
from extension bodies such as Coed Cymru,
the group have fenced off the least productive
areas of land e.g. stream banks and marginal
areas, to plant trees. Results from the
initiative are now being used to measure
the effects of upland management practices
on flooding and soil erosion.
