This report has been prepared by PRACSIS on behalf of the Environment Directorate-General of the European Commission in view of the International Year of Soils 2015 proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in December 20131. The objective was to find out what kind of awareness-raising activities and events could be organised or co-organised by the Commission to mark the Year. The tasks assigned to PRACSIS are outlined in Chapter 2 and were carried out between January and May 2014.
At present, soil is considered as more of an economical resource than an environmental topic. Soil is increasingly seen as a part of land management, which gathers all linked topics such as air, water, soil, habitat, agriculture, industry, urban planning, etc. Since the global 2008 food crisis there has been better awareness of the importance of soils. We have seen the development of land grabbing: some countries such as China, South Korea or Saudi Arabia are buying a lot of land in African countries. For example, 50% of the land in Madagascar has been bought by foreign countries.
The most important CO2 reservoir in the world is the frozen soil (permafrost) located in the Arctic and Antarctic region. With global warming and the melting of the permafrost, however, a huge volume of greenhouse gases (CO2, methane) could be released into the atmosphere. Another threat for carbon release arises from the drainage of large areas of organic wetland (peat) soils for agriculture, forestry and peat extraction all over the world. As a result, the organic carbon that is normally underwater is suddenly exposed to the air, where it decomposes and emits greenhouse gases. This is why there is a strong link between soils and global warming. It is also important to link soil contamination/degradation to food security (healthy food).