Action 22004 - Soil Data and Information Systems (SOIL)

What are the status and trends of soils in Europe and in the World?

Soil data and information are relevant for a number of EU policy areas: agriculture, soil protection, water protection, nature protection, development policy, health and sustainable development. The EU Thematic Strategy for Soil Protection addresses these different policy areas in a coherent manner and proposes the way forward towards effective soil protection in Europe. Policy-relevant soil data and information will play a crucial role in the policy development and implementation process. In addition, a number of global multilateral agreements which have been ratified by the European Community (UNFCCC, CBD, UNCCD) demand an increasing amount of soil data and information: climate change, biodiversity and desertification are global issues that are strongly related to soil degradation phenomena at the global scale.

Throught the establishment of the European Soil Data Centre, the SOIL Action provides a single focal point for soil data and information for the Commission. It supports the other Commission services in the negotiations of the Thematic Strategy for Soil Protection and the proposal for a Soil Framework Directive and their subsequent implementation in the Member States. The Action also helps Member States to fulfil their reporting and assessment obligations.

Specific objectives of the Action

• The establishment of the European Soil Data Centre (ESDAC) as a single focal point for all soil data and information in Europe.

• The development of procedures and methods for data collection, quality assessment and control, data management and storage, data distribution to Commission and external users, fully complying with INSPIRE principles for spatial data infrastructures.

• Research and development of advanced modelling techniques, indicators and scenario analyses in relation to the major threats to soil (erosion, decline of organic matter, compaction, salinisation, landslides, sealing, contamination, and loss of soil biodiversity), as identified in the Thematic Strategy for Soil Protection.

• Supporting the other Commission services with soil information, and providing scientific and technical assistance in negotiating the Thematic Strategy for Soil Protection and the proposal for a Soil Framework Directive and their subsequent implementation at Community and Member State level.

• Extension of the coverage of the European Soil Information System (EUSIS) towards a fully operational Global Soil Information System (GLOSIS), providing relevant soil information for the implementation of multilateral environmental agreements such as UNFCCC, CBD and UNCCD, and contributing to the ground segment of the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) initiative.

The SOIL Action is the main repository of soil data and information in Europe, operating the European Soil Data Centre and providing high-level analysis and assessments on the status and trends of soils in Europe and in the world. Staffed by a team including soil scientists, agricultural scientists, geographers and foresters, and with a strong competence in spatial analysis and Geostatistics/GIS, it performs top-level research activities in digital soil mapping and related areas of science.

More information can be found on the SOIL Action website

Main customers

- DG Environment

- DG Agriculture and Rural Development

- DG Development

- DG Regional Policy

- DG Eurostat

- DG Enterprise and Industry

- DG EuropAid 

- European Environment Agency

- FAO

- UNEP

- ISRIC – World Data Centre for Soils

- EuroGeoSurveys

EU Legislation and Documents supported by this Action

- Thematic Strategy for Soil Protection (COM (2006)231)

- Soil Framework Directive (COM(2006)232)

- Sixth Community Environment Action Programme

- UNCCD implementation

Contact Info

Luca Montanarella - Tel.: +39-0332-785349 - E-mail: luca.montanarella(at)jrc.ec.europa.eu