Having an impact on the EU soil monitoring law: Luke’s science-based views directly for decision-makers
The EU directive on soil monitoring and resilience nudges the health and sustainable use of soils forward. Our specialists assessed and commented the directive proposal during all preparatory phases. Our research results and statements helped to identify which soil health indicators and monitoring methods are significant for Finland and other Nordic countries and how soil monitoring should be organized taking into account our conditions.
The EU Commission’s proposal for the directive on soil monitoring and resilience was published in summer 2023. When it enters into force, the Member States must collect information about the health status of soils and report it to the Commission, and improve the soil ecological status in the EU.
A solid foundation through participating in the preparation of the directive
We participated in a political and societal dialogue on the draft version of the directive in all preparatory phases. The discussions involved several parties in Brussels and Finland, including members of Finnish Parliament’s Environment, Agriculture and Forestry, and Grand Committees. The European Parliament proposed its changes for the Commission’s proposal in autumn 2023, and the modification of the directive has continued this spring under Belgium’s EU presidency.
Before the proposed directive was published, our specialists participated in the national working group to support the EU Soil Expert Group, and contributed to the preparation of the directive by issuing comments on the discussion papers of the EU Soil Expert Group .
Preparedness to future national monitoring programs
To prepare for upcoming soil monitoring programs and soil sampling requirements, the Ministry of the Environment commissioned a report on the monitoring and health status of Finnish soils, and policies for their use from the Finnish Environment Institute (Syke), the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke) and the Geological Survey of Finland (GTK).
Proposals presented directly to EU decision-makers
In September 2023, we published a position paper for EU decision-makers, including key questions concerning soil health and the organization of monitoring in Finland. At the end of September, we presented the position paper in Brussels to representatives of the European Commission’s Directorate-Generals for the Environment, as well as Agriculture and Rural Development, the Joint Research Centre, Finnish Members of the European Parliament, and the rapporteur of the soil directive.
We presented comments on the proposed directive directly to the soil health law rapporteur which helped modify soil health indicators and monitoring methods significant for Finland and other Nordic countries to better match our conditions.
Changes in forests and forest soil occur slowly. Therefore, it is important that soil sampling and measurements are conducted repeatedly in the same locations using the same methods,” says Hannu Ilvesniemi, Research Professor at Luke.
Having an impact on the EU soil directive in a nutshell
1. Finland is covered by more forest land than countries in Southern Europe. As changes in forest soils take place slowly, sampling every three to five years for soil monitoring as proposed in the directive is not an appropriate frequency in Finland’s conditions. The monitoring period should be adjusted according to soil types, uses and any land use changes.
2. Arable soils are regularly monitored in Finland. More focus should be placed on forest soil monitoring, and the existing monitoring networks should be used. Determining indicators and measurements for soil health requires local studies of such factors as carbon loss from forest soil. The measurement methods presented in the proposed directive differ partly from the standardised methods used in monitoring the state of Finnish soils, and more research, national discretion and flexibility are required to set threshold values.
3. The preservation of soil carbon should be ensured better through such measures as farming practices and forest management. At the same time, erosion, soil compaction, nutrient leaching and greenhouse gas emissions could be controlled. This calls for new incentives and control measures. The aim is to have comprehensive solutions that would be beneficial not only for soil health and the circular economy but also for the diversity of soil organisms and carbon sequestration.
