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Key Facts on Soil Health

We depend on healthy soils for many reasons, including food, water quality, climate change mitigation and biodiversity.1 Soils are fundamental to food production, supporting approximately 95% of global food crops. They also act as a natural filter for water, helping to maintain clean and reliable water supplies.2 Moreover, soils store more carbon than the atmosphere and all plant life combined, playing a crucial role in mitigating climate change.3 The condition of our soils influences human health in both direct and indirect ways.1 Unfortunately, due to unsustainable practices, many soils worldwide are degrading and in poor conditions.4 This threatens food security, water quality, and biodiversity, requiring urgent global action to restore and protect this vital resource.5

At least 25%

of global biodiversity lives in the soil - more species than in any other ecosystem6 

98%

of the world’s food is produced by arable soils, despite their limited areal extent7

1/3

of global land area used for agricultural land and forestry each8

10.5%

of agricultural land in the European Union was farmed organically in 20229

157 main soil types

in Europe (excluding urban soils, intergrades, associations and local variants)10

29 out of 83

global ecosystem services are directly affected by soil health and 40 additional ecosystem services are impacted in relation to agricultural soil management11

62%

of soils affected by degradation processes or soil sealing12

89%

of Agricultural soils show signs of degradation beyond generic sustainable target values12

The title of the info sheet is “Healthy soils as a key to solve societal challenges”. It lists three key facts. Small icons are placed to the left of the key facts. Key fact 1 shows four corn plants growing on soil and three tiny other plants: In 2022, 38.8% of EU land, amounting to 157 million hectares, were used for agriculture. (reference to source 13). Key fact 2 shows a landscape that has been degraded by desertification. This can be recognized by cracks in the soil of undried plants: Around 23% of EU land is classified as moderately susceptible to desertification, 8% of which is highly susceptible. Desertification and the loss of protective soil cover lead to erosion and thus to a decline in soil productivity and fertility (source 14). Key fact 3 shows a globe sign with people standing on it and are arranged around it: Until 2050, changes in population, climate and consumption patterns will lead to a rising food demand, which can only be met by increasing production of all major food crops by between 50 and 100 % (source 15).
This info graphic with the title “Soil contamination and human health” shows a map of Europe with four key facts that are connected to named countries on the map with an arrow. Key fact 1: Peri-urban soils in Huelva, Spain, contaminated through industrial wastes and effluents, showed an increase in cancer risk for exposed industrial workers by additional 4.4. cases per 100,000, caused by heightened Arsenic concentrations (source 16). Key fact 2: A study on human health risks through contaminated sites relating to the ferroalloy production in Italy, showed an association between a 10% increase in soil manganese and a 3% increase in nail and 1.6% in saliva manganese (source 17). Key fact 3: The discharge of wastewater into the nearby river Mulde by the former chemical site in Bitterfeld, Germany, led to lasting soil pollution in the region and a heightened hazard index for children playing nearby (source 18). Key fact 4: A study in Upper Silesia, Poland, found that people who ate locally grown vegetables in industrialized regions, ingested 2-5 times more lead and 2-16 times more cadmium than those living in rural areas with lower environmental pollution. This demonstrates the health risks posed by heavy metals in garden soils (source 19). Another general key fact is written next to a food chain symbol (cutlery in a circle consisting of four arrows): Elevated levels of pollutants in the soil are also reflected in the food chain. For example, PFAS have been found in vegetables and human body fluids, such as blood, plasma or serum (source 20).
This infographic entitled “The soil and the water cycle” shows a simplified cycle of water in the environment from precipitation to infiltration in the soil, uptake by plants, to evapotranspiration by them. Various key facts are listed in the cycle: 1) Soil moisture as a key limitation for crop development: Often, low crop yields are more closely linked to a lack of available soil moisture than to the amount of rainfall received (source 22). 2) Transport of water through unhealthy soils may result in water acidification and eutrophication, limiting water availability for society (source 23). 3) Soils filter pollutants, preventing them from contaminating groundwater (source 22). 4) Increases soil organic matter improves water infiltration and retention in soils (source 21). 5) Crop residues positively impact soil water management by decreasing evaporation (source 21).
The title of the information sheet is “Climate change mitigation and adaptation”. It lists three key facts. There are small icons to the left of the key facts. Key fact 1 shows a CO2 molecule: The topsoils of agricultural areas in the EU store more carbon dioxide than the amount of 10 times the current annual EU greenhouse gas emissions. (reference to source 28). Key fact 2 shows a pile of soil with some stones and a plant growing on it: An estimation of soil organic carbon in the first 0-30 cm of pan-European agricultural soils amounts to 17.63 Gigatonnes. Although this estimate includes uncertainties, it serves as a reference value for the pan-European scale. (source 29) On a global scale the terrestrial soil organic carbon stock was estimated at 2344 Gigatonnes. (source 30) Key factor 3 shows a peatland with three ponds and bulrushes: In the EU, around half of all peatlands are now degraded due to agricultural drainage, forestry or peat extraction. Only 120,000 hectares, equivalent to less than 1% of the total drained area have been rewetted until today (source 31). Key fact 4 shows a street: Soil sealing creates a loss of carbon sequestration potential. During the years 2012 to 2018, approximately 4.2. million tons of carbon sequestration potential were lost in functional urban areas of Europe due soil sealing (source 32).
This infographic entitled “Soils in a circular economy” shows the time dimension of key facts on a timeline. On the left of the timeline, you can read “Land use change & Eutrophication”. Between 2000 and 2018 the area of EU-28 land take was equivalent to about 800 square kilometers per year on average (source 34). In 2007, the consumption of mineral P fertilizer in Western Europe declined to 17 kilograms per hectare per year, compared to a peak of 34 kilograms per hectare per year in the 1980s (source 33). Between 2000 and 2010, the nitrogen balance in the EU-28 improved, with the nitrogen surplus on agricultural land decreasing by about 18 percent (source 35). Between 2012 and 2018, soil sealing in the functional urban areas of the EU-27 and UK increased by 1,467 square kilometers, causing a loss of 4 million tons of carbon sequestration potential and a reduced water holding capacity by 688 million cubic meters (source 36).

Introduction

1 Steffan, J.J. et al. (2017b) 'The effect of soil on human health: an overview', European Journal of Soil Science, 69(1), pp. 159–171. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejss.12451.

2 Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) (2021) The State of the World's Land and Water Resources for Land and Water Resources for Food and Agriculture: Systems at breaking point. Available at: https://openknowledge.fao.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/ecb51a59-ac4d-407a-80de-c7d6c3e15fcc/content (Accessed: 15 June 2025).

3 Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils (ITPS) (2015) Status of the World's Soil Resources (SWSR) - Main Report. Rome, Italy. FAO. Available at: https://openknowledge.fao.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/6ec24d75-19bd-4f1f-b1c5-5becf50d0871/content(Accessed: 15 June 2025).

4 Gomiero, T. (2016) 'Soil degradation, land scarcity and food Security: Reviewing a complex challenge', Sustainability, 8(3), p. 281. https://doi.org/10.3390/su8030281.

5 United Nations News (2014) UN agency calls for urgent action to protect global soil from depletion, degradation. Available at: https://news.un.org/en/story/2014/07/473762(Accessed: 15 June 2025).

 

Key facts:

6 Decaëns, T. et al. (2006) 'The values of soil animals for conservation biology', European Journal of Soil Biology, 42(1), pp. 23–S38. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejsobi.2006.07.001.

7 Katyal, J.C., Datta, S. & Golui, D. (2016) 'Global review on state of soil health', Indian Society of Soil Science, 30, pp. 1-33. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Debasis-Golui/publication/307539481_Global_Review_on_State_of_Soil_Health/links/57c7b06b08ae9d64047ea519/Global-Review-on-State-of-Soil-Health.pdf#page=10 (Accessed: 08 June 2025).

8 FAO (2024) 'Land statistics 2001–2022 – Global, regional and country trends (FAOSTAT Analytical Briefs, No. 88)', Rome. https://doi.org/10.4060/cd1484en.

9 European Environment Agency (2024, November 19) Agricultural area under organic farming in Europe. Available at: https://www.eea.europa.eu/en/analysis/indicators/agricultural-area-used-for-organic?utm_source (Accessed: 08 June 2025)

10European Soil Bureau Network, European Commission (2005) Soil Atlas of Europe, Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, L-2995 Luxembourg. ISBN 92-894-8120-X.

11 Paul, C. et al. (2020) 'Towards a standardization of soil‐related ecosystem service assessments,' European Journal of Soil Science, 72(4), pp. 1543–1558.https://doi.org/10.1111/ejss.13022.

12 European Commission (2025) EUSO Soil Degradation Dashboard. Available at:https://esdac.jrc.ec.europa.eu/esdacviewer/euso-dashboard/ (Accessed: 08 June 2025).

  

Healthy soils as a key to solve societal challenges

13EUROSTAT (2025, June) Land use statistics. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Land_use_statistics (Accessed: 21.08.25).

14 Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung and TMG - Think Tank for Sustainability (November 2024) Soil Atlas 2024, 1st edition, ISBN: 978-9-46494422-8.

15 The Royal Society (2009) Reaping the benefits: science and the sustainable intensification of global agriculture. Available at: https://royalsociety.org/-/media/policy/publications/2009/4294967719.pdf (Accessed: 10 June 2015).

 

Soil contamination and human health 

16 Fernández-Caliani, J. C., González, I., & Romero, A. (2012) 'Risk-based assessment of multimetallic soil pollution in the industrialized peri-urban area of Huelva, Spain', Environmental Geochemistry and Health, 34(1), pp. 123–139. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-011-9396-0.

17 Butler, L. et al. (2018) 'Assessing the contributions of metals in environmental media to exposure biomarkers in a region of ferroalloy industry', Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology, 29(5), pp. 674–687. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41370-018-0081-6.

18 Brack, W. et al. (2002) 'Hochwasser 2002: Chemische und toxische Belastung überschwemmter Gemeinden im Raum Bitterfeld', Umweltwissenschaften Und Schadstoff-Forschung, 14(4), pp. 213–220. https://doi.org/10.1065/uwsf2002.10.049.

19 Gzyl, J. (1990) 'Lead and cadmium contamination of soil and vegetables in the upper silesia region of Poland', Science of The Total Environment, 96(1-2),pp.199-209.
https://doi.org/10.1016/0048-9697(90)90018-P.  

20 Sunderland, E. M. et al. (2018) 'A review of the pathways of human exposure to poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) and present understanding of health effects', Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology, 29(2), pp. 131–147. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41370-018-0094-1.

 

Soil and the water cycle

21 Reicosky, D.C. (2005)  ‘Conservation agriculture: Zero tillage impact on soil organic matter. 27th Annual Zero Tillage and Winter Wheat Workshop’, Manitoba-North Dakota Zero Tillage Farmers Association, pp. 39-47. Available at: https://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/50600000/Products-Reprints/2005/1229.pdf (Accessed: 20 June 2025).

22 FAO (2015, August 27) Soils in the water cycle. Available at: https://www.fao.org/soils-2015/news/news-detail/pt/c/326283/ (Accessed: 20 June 2025).

23 FAO and UNEP (2021) 'Ecosystems impairment caused by soil pollution (Chapter 4.2)', in: Global assessment of soil pollution: Report. Rome. https://doi.org/10.4060/cb4894en.

 

Soil and biodiverse intact ecosystems

24 European Commission (n.d.) Soil biodiversity, European Soil Data Centre (ESDAC). Available at: https://esdac.jrc.ec.europa.eu/themes/soil-biodiversity (Accessed: 08 July 2025).

25 Decaëns, T. et al. (2006) 'The values of soil animals for conservation biology', European Journal of Soil Biology, 42(1), pp. 23-38. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejsobi.2006.07.001.

26 Anthony, M.A., Bender, S.F. , van der Heijden, M.G.A. (2023) ‘Enumerating soil biodiversity’, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences., pp. 120(33). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2304663120.

27 Jeffery, S.et al. (2010) European Atlas of Soil Biodiversity, European Commission, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg. Available at: https://esdac.jrc.ec.europa.eu/Library/Maps/Biodiversity_Atlas/Documents/Biodiversity_Atlas.pdf  (Accessed: 10 July 2025).

 

Soil and climate change mitigation and adaptation

28Joint Research Centre (2025, 18 March) Soil oganic carbon is at risk in a large part of European agricultural land. Available at: joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu/jrc-news-and-updates/soil-organic-carbon-risk-large-part-european-agricultural-land-2025-03-18_en (Accessed: 12 August 2025).

29 Lugato, E. et al. (2013) 'A new baseline of organic carbon stock in European agricultural soils using a modelling approach', Global Change Biology, 20(1), pp. 313-326. doi.org/10.1111/gcb.12292.

30Jobbágy, E.G., Jackson, R.B. (2000) 'The vertical distribution of soil organic carbon and its relation to climate and vegetation', Ecological Applications, 10(2), pp. 423-436. doi.org/10.1890/1051-0761.

31Anthony, M.A., Bender, S.F. , van der Heijden, M.G.A. (2023) 'Enumerating soil biodiversity', Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, pp. 120(33). doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2304663120.

32 Jeffery, S. et al. (2010) European Atlas of Soil Biodiversity, European Commission, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg. Available at: esdac.jrc.ec.europa.eu/Library/Maps/Biodiversity_Atlas/Documents/Biodiversity_Atlas.pdf (Accessed: 10 July 2025).

 

Soils in a circular economy

33 Sattari, S.Z., et al. (2012) ‘Residual soil phosphorus as the missing piece in the global phosphorus crisis puzzle’, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., 209, pp. 6348-6353.

34 European Environment Agency (2019) Yearly land take and net land take in EU-28 and EEA-29 regions. Available at: https://www.eea.europa.eu/en/analysis/maps-and-charts/yearly-land-take-and-net?activeTab=570bee2d-1316-48cf-adde-4b640f92119b (Accessed: 21 July 2025).

35 European Environment Agency (2019) Agricultural land: nitrogen balance. 2018. Available at: https://www.eea.europa.eu/airs/2018/natural-capital/agricultural-land-nitrogen-balance (Accessed: 30 July 2025).

36 European Environment Agency (2021) ‘Land take and land degradation in functional urban areas’, EEA Report 17/2021. ISBN 978‑92‑9480‑465‑5.

 

Pictures:

© Julia von Guilleaume, Thuenen-Institute, 2025

 

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