Soil sealing - the result of urban sprawl - is destroying more than 250ha of European land every day according to a new report from the European Commission which proposes an end to subsidies which encourage sealing, mitigation of the damage it does and compensation through payments or unsealing equivalent areas.
The report, Overview of Best Practices for Limiting Soil Sealing or Mitigating its Effects in EU-27, is being released to mark the Green Week conference.
Although action on sealing was halted by the stalling of the soil framework directive, it is clear the Commission intends to find ways of tackling the issue.
"We rely on soils for some fundamental ecosystem services, and without them life on our planet would grind to a halt," said environment commissioner Janez Potočnik.
"We cannot afford to continue paving them over. This does not mean halting economic development or the upgrading of our infrastructures, but it does require a more sustainable approach."
The report says that, between 1990 and 2000, Europe was seeing 275ha a day lost to sealing - around 1,000km² a year.
Half of this was permanently sealed by building, roads, parking etc..
It has dropped a little in recent years, to around 252ha a day, but across Europe artificial areas increase by 3% between 2000 and 2006, although the figures for Ireland and Cyprus were 14% and 15% respectively.
The report proposes a three-tier approach:-
- limiting sealing with improved spatial planning or reassessing "negative" subsidies that indirectly encourage it;
- mitigation to reduce damage when sealing cannot be avoided, including permeable surfaces instead of conventional and green roofs;
- compensation to partially offset soil losses in one area by measures taken elsewhere, such as payments, as in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, or restoration of already sealed soil, with good practice identified, notably in Dresden and Vienna.
The Commission plans a technical document, now being drawn up, to provide advice to national, regional and local authorities next year.
The report points out that sealing causes irreversible loss of soil's biological functions and inability to infiltrate or evaporate increases run-off and causes flooding.
Landscapes and habitats are fragmented and food production is lost.
The Commission's Joint Research Centre estimates around four million tonnes of wheat production are lost to soil sealing each year.
"To protect European soils, the Commission presented a proposal for a soil framework directive in 2006, with the support of the European Parliament," says the Commission.
"However due to opposition from some member states the proposal is currently stalled in the Council."
