A European Commission analysis indicates that soil erosion continues to outstrip soil formation across the European Union, but that the Common Agricultural Policy is narrowing the gap (P. Panagos et al. Environ. Sci. Policy 54, 438–447; 2015).
The amount of soil lost to water erosion in Europe equates to an estimated economic loss of about US$20 billion per year, based on a replacement cost of $20 per tonne. Between 2000 and 2010, intervention measures through the Common Agricultural Policy have reduced the rate of soil loss in the European Union by an average of 9.5% overall, and by 20% for arable lands.
Continued monitoring of human-induced changes to soil every 5–10 years will be crucial for refining soil policies (D. A. Robinson Science 347, 140; 2015).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Panagos, P., Borrelli, P. & Robinson, D. Tackling soil loss across Europe. Nature 526, 195 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/526195d
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/526195d
This article is cited by
-
Soil erosion and degradation assessment integrating multi-parametric methods of RUSLE model, RS, and GIS in the Shaqlawa agricultural area, Kurdistan Region, Iraq
Environmental Monitoring and Assessment (2023)
-
Banking on strong rural livelihoods and the sustainable use of natural capital in post-conflict Colombia
Environment, Development and Sustainability (2023)
-
Countries and the global rate of soil erosion
Nature Sustainability (2019)
-
Account for soil as natural capital
Nature (2015)
