Given soil’s vital importance, many EU and global policy frameworks directly and indirectly address land and soil. European policies aim to protect and restore soils and ensure that they are used sustainably. Soil-related EU policies include:

Nov 7, 2016 · The European Soil Data Centre (ESDAC) contains currently many soil data and information; most of the offered data are at European scale, while, when possible, links to national or global datasets are provided. Datasets are organized in some broad categories.

Europe's soils store about 73 to 79 billion tonnes of carbon. Some 45 % of soils in Europe have a low or very low organic matter content (meaning 0-2 % organic carbon) and 45 % have a medium content (meaning 2-6 % organic carbon).

Oct 18, 2010 · The soil resources of Europe are diverse, reflecting a combination of geology, climate, topography and land use developed over thousands of years. Northern European soils tend to have higher organic matter content than those in the south.

The quality of Europe’s soils is a result of natural factors, such as climate, the material out of which the soil was formed, vegetation, biota and topography, and human activities. As a consequence, there is a wide diversity of soil types, and soil degradation differs markedly across Europe. 9.1.1. Policy challenges In many areas of Europe ...

Soil pH in Europe, Dec. 2009 The JRC created a quantitative map of estimated soil pH values across Europe from a compilation of 12,333 soil pH measurements from 11 different sources, and using a geo-statistical framework based on Regression-Kriging.

Nov 23, 2020 · The structural arrangements of these components determine the main soil types in Europe; 320 different major soil types can be identified in the EU (CEC, 1985). In addition, soils contain populations of biota ranging from bacteria and fungi to worms and rodents (Figure 7.1); the chemical, physical and biological properties of soils vary both ...

Before dealing with the European Soil Geographic Database, a short historical description of the soil mapping effort is needed, the present 1: 1 000 000 scale EC Soil Map being the fruit of more than 30 years work.

Soil is also essential for water and ecosystem health. It is second only to the oceans as a global carbon sink, with an important role in the potential slowing of climate change. Soil functions depend on a multitude of soil organisms which makes it an important part of our biodiversity.

The Forest Information System for Europe (FISE), is a single entry point for data and information on forests in Europe. FISE brings together data, information and knowledge gathered or derived through key forest-related policy drivers.