Action Area 5: Assess, Map and Monitor Soil Health
62 % of soils in the EU are likely to be affected by at least one degradational process or soil sealing (EUSO Soil Degradation Dashboard). Although soil degradation is a natural process appearing over long terms of time, it can also be caused by anthropogenic induced pressures. Intensive land management practices, deforestation and urbanization, as well as intensive farming practices, such as tilling and monocultures, enhance pressure on the environment and lead to the deprivation and disturbance of soil functions, thus causing a decline in soil health and functionality.
Investments in soil monitoring, especially regional assessments on soil management and the assessment of gaps are needed to further research the condition of soils and build a basis for restoration measures.
The Status of the World’s Soil Resources (SWSR) report reflects on global soil issues and specific assessments of regional soil change, aiming at providing a global scientific assessment and exploring the implications of the soil conditions, while concluding with a set of recommendations for policymakers and other stakeholders.
The GSP and ITPS are currently preparing the 2nd edition of the SWSR, to be published before World Soil Day in December 2025. The Europe-chapter is being prepared by JRC, EEA and networks with country involvement and subregional assessments.
The SWSR 2025 report will assess the status and trend of soil health worldwide and by region (link GSP regions – GSP Seite).
Since the publication of the first SWSR report in 2015, a wealth of information has been generated, but on a global view, soil information is still missing for many regions. The state of many soil threats does not show a clear improvement for the past ten years.
The main threat on a global scale, continues to be erosion, while in Europe sealing and in Eurasia soil organic matter loss, are identified as further main issues.
The first edition of the SWSR report, published in 2015, stresses the limited information and monitoring data, which prevent any accurate assessment of soil degradation in Europe. The report has identified anthropogenic pressures as the main reason for soil degradation in many parts of Europe. The European region considered in the report refers to Europe, Turkey and Eurasia.
For more information access the first edition here.