Soil

These pages cover soil and land issues. Local authorities' statutory duties are mainly around contaminated land but councils can do much to help protect soils as well. The Defra Soils Team have helped to put these pages together and their contact details can be found on this page

On this page:

1. News
2. Why is soil important?
3. Soilscapes map viewer and Soil Site Reporter
4. English soils policy - Defra's Soil Strategy for England
5. Soil-Net: A free soils teaching resource for key stages 1-4
6. Soils in the built environment
7. Ideas for action!
8. Defra Soils Policy Team contact details

1. News

Defra consultation on a draft Code of Practice for the sustainable use of soils on construction sites

The purpose of the Code of Practice is to provide a practical guide to assist anyone involved in the construction industry to protect the soil resources with which they work. As well as providing environmental benefits, by following the guidance, firms could also save money.

The draft Code outlines current guidance and legislation concerning the use of soil in construction projects, before offering stage by stage guidance on the use, management and movement of soil on site. Each section explains the need for the advice and makes recommendations for good practice, including method statements, illustrations and a list of Do's and Don'ts . The Code is complemented by Case Studies to demonstrate both good and poor practice, as well as a range of toolbox talks for use on site.

The consultation closes on 20 October 2008. Full details, including consultation questions, can be found at:
http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/sustainable-soil-construction/index.htm

Soil Framework Directive "on hold"
The proposals for a European Soil Framework Directive are effectively "on hold" after Member States failed to reach agreement by the end of the Portuguese presidency of the Council of Europe in December 2007. The Soil Framework Directive proposals arose out of a growing realisation that soil is not a renewable resource and took an approach aimed at protecting the varied functions of soil (e.g. drainage, crop production etc). Different countries from around Europe had different interests in the proposals, for example the Southern Member States had more of an interest in salinisation/desertification issues whereas the more Northern and Eastern Member States had more of an interest in those aspects of the proposals looking at the effects of industrial pollution and contamination. It is not certain when the proposals will be revived but due to the work programmes/alignments of current and future presidencies of the Council of Europe and the forthcoming European elections it may take some time for the proposals to progress.

1. Why is soil important?

· Food production, essential for human survival, is totally dependent on soil. Almost all vegetation including grassland, arable crops and trees need soil for the supply of water and nutrients and to fix their roots

• Soil stores and partly transforms minerals, organic matter, chemicals and energy. It also acts as a natural filter for groundwater
• Soil is the habitat for a huge number of organisms living on and in the soil
• Soil is the platform for human activity; it is part of the landscape and cultural heritage and acts as the foundation for development.

2. Find out about your soils! Soilscapes map viewer and Soil Site Reporter

Defra has been receiving requests for some simple advice on the types of soil in each region. Our answer is the 'Soilscapes Viewer'. It's an easy-to-use, information-rich, mapping tool, which allows you to learn about soils in your locality and provides descriptions of soil types (including information on drainage, fertility and texture, along with typical land cover and habitats). It can be searched using postcodes or coordinates, or by zooming in and panning across the region of interest. It provides soil information at a useful scale for regional spatial planning, but not for individual fields or development sites.

For more detailed information on soils in a particular locality, NSRI has also developed the 'Soil Site Reporter'. This is a soil reporting tool which produces site-specific soil information with maps and soil descriptions. Reports provide detailed information on expected soil conditions at the site and outlines interpretations of the suitability for different uses.

To find out more about these NSRI products contact: Timothy Farewell - 01234 75 2978 or visit here

3. English soils policy - Defra's Soil Strategy for England

The First Soil Action Plan for England (2004-2006) provided Defra with a good foundation to help protect our soils. There is still much to be done, however, to improve the management of soils to deliver a wide range of benefits to society and to improve the measures we use to achieve this.

A Soil Strategy for England is being developed to succeed the Action Plan. This will take stock of progress, as well as taking forward emerging priorities for soil protection on soil carbon and the recycling of organic materials to land. A consultation exercise was carried out between March-June 2008. 64 responses were received to this which are being considered in drafting the final Strategy. It is anticipated that the Strategy will be published towards the end-2008.

4. Soil-Net: A free soils teaching resource for key stages 1-4

Soil-Net is an exciting free environmental teaching resource, all about soil. It contains an extensive package of teacher aids supporting many curriculum based activities, covering key stages 1-4 (age 5-16).

Visit http://www.soil-net.com to learn about the importance of soil and to see the range of downloadable educational resources available, from pre-prepared lesson plans, activities, quizzes and factual information sheets, to materials on how to develop a school garden, soil walks and an extensive photo library.

For more information on Soil-Net and what Defra is doing about soil education more generally, please access the following link to the soils portion of the Defra website.

Alternatively please contact the Defra Soils Policy Team as outlined below.

5. Soils in the built environment

The Defra Soils Policy Team's remit includes increasing the sustainable use and management of soil in the built environment. This includes sustainable soil management in the construction sector as well as trying to ensure that environmental impacts on soil are properly accounted for in the planning and development process. Since 2004 we have used considerable resources to build an evidence base to help us do this.

Defra are currently working on two key pieces of work:

(1) A 'soils toolkit' for planners which will help planners and Regional Assembly members to interpret the references to soil protection in the Planning Policy Statements (notably PPS1 and PPS11) and the sustainability appraisal and environmental assessment legislation. Defra are currently in dialogue with the Department for Communities and Local Government about how best to take this forward. We will keep you updated on progress.

(2) A Code of Practice for the sustainable use of soils on construction sites. Research has shown that a considerable proportion of the industry does not adopt a sustainable approach to soils. For example, soil forms a large percentage of construction 'waste' going to landfill and the use of heavy machinery on site can cause considerable soil compaction which may have implications for flooding and water pollution.

The Code has been developed with the aid of a steering group of industry representatives, as well as the Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform and CIRIA. A draft version of the Code is currently out for consultation ending on 20 October 2008. This can be found on the Defra website.

Defra has also been involved in the LGA's Planning Policies for Sustainable Building project, which contains guidance for planners and developers on soil issues (see EAS construction pages).

Back to top

6. Ideas for action!

• Halt unnecessary paving over - research by the London Borough of Ealing, the Greater London Authority and the Royal Horticultural Society has highlighted the implications for localised flooding of water runoff from the increasing number of front gardens which are being paved or concreted over. For further information, please see:
  
  Royal Horticultural Society - Garden matters: Front Gardens (Webpage Version; PDF version)
  
  Ealing's Local Agenda 21 (PDF file) - Hard Surfacing of Front Gardens.
  
  London Assembly - Crazy Paving: The environmental importance of London's front gardens.
• Promote sustainable drainage systems - CIRIA (SUDS)
• Tackle erosion hotspots - Defra - Background: threats to soils.
• Identify and protect rare soils - Defra - Peat and Peat Alternatives.
• Specify use of locally produced compost in local parks & gardens, landscaping and construction projects
  The Composting Association
  The Waste and Resources Action Programme - (WRAP)
• Avoid or reduce soil compaction on construction sites. Heavy machinery will make the soil less permeable and prone to flooding. Check that council contractors adopt best practice in managing soils during construction projects and promote relevant codes in giving planning permissions for private developments.
• Produce a Contaminated Land Strategy:
  - Defra's Contaminated Land pages.
  - CIRIA
  - Local Authority Contaminated Land Network (LACL)
• Conduct a soil audit and facilitate a local soil strategy Audit of Hampshire's Soils
• Undergo training - ensure that environment training for planners includes soil so that they understand its value and how to protect it.

7. Defra Soils Policy Team contact details

If you have any queries about the contents of the EAS soils pages, or you just want to find out more about sustainable use and management of soils, please contact Defra's Soils Policy Team:

Defra
Area 3C Nobel House
17 Smith Square
London, SW1P 3JR
Email
Tel: 020 7238 6735