All publications and documents

Soils are affected by human activities, such as industrial, municipal and agriculture, that often result in soil degradation and loss. In order to prevent soil degradation and to rehabilitate the potentials of degraded soils, reliable soil data are the most important prerequisites for the design of appropriate land-use systems and soil management practices as well as for a better understanding of…

This book introduces the reader to the current soil protection and conservation debate in Europe. It is written for the informed person with a background in for example environmental science, agriculture, forestry, geography or law. The focus of this book is not on the scientific analysis of the problem but rather on the actions that can be taken to improve and protect European soils. Although…

Throughout history water has confronted humanity with some of its greatest challenges. Water is a source of life and a natural resource that sustains our environments and supports livelihoods – but it is also a source of risk and vulnerability. In the early 21st Century, prospects for human development are threatened by a deepening global water crisis. Debunking the myth that the crisis is the…

Poverty-environment mapping offers a valuable tool to support poverty-focused conservation. Maps of poverty and environmental conditions can pinpoint opportunities for development and are useful to donors and development agencies in allocating investment and targeting activities. Several international institutions have been doing very important work on mapping poverty related indicators and…

The Joint Research Centre, IES, SOIL Action in the context of the European Digital Archive of Soil Maps (EUDASM) in collaboration with ISRIC (the Netherlands) has developed detailed metadata for some European Maps. The current page uses the Image/Maps from the old Archive of European Soil Maps and implements a number of added value products using important Metadata information. Users are welcomed…

The Chaco is the great plain extending in Bolivia, Argentina, Paraguay and in a small portion of Brazil, from the foot of the Andes to the river system of rivers Paraguay and Parana, between Izozog Bathed in the north and the Salinas Grandes in south. It is in the central plains of the continent are the most extended regions and less populated of South America. The Chaco is a…