Working Party "Land Cover/Use Statistics“ of the Standing Committee for Agricultural Statistics Luxembourg, 20 October 2009 The "Soil Sample“ in the framework of LUCAS survey Luca Marmo European Commission Environment Directorate-General DG ENV.B.1 - Agriculture, Forests and Soil Unit BU-9, 4/89 1049 Brussels E-mail: luca.marmo@ec.europa.eu Working Party “Land Cover/Use Statistics”, 20 October 2009

A bit of history… Soil is practically a non-renewable resource It performs crucial functions for human activities and ecosystems survival Soils are increasingly degrading or irreversibly lost across the EU The Community acquis is not sufficient - Soil Thematic Strategy - Proposal for a Soil Framework Directive (22 September 2006) Working Party “Land Cover/Use Statistics”, 20 October 2009

The Soil Thematic Strategy Lays down the objective of soil policy: the protection of soil functions across the EU Sets out the four pillars of EU soil policy Indicates the next steps at EU level Working Party “Land Cover/Use Statistics”, 20 October 2009

The four pillars of the Soil Thematic Strategy Awareness raising Research Integration into other policies Legislation Working Party “Land Cover/Use Statistics”, 20 October 2009

The next steps Lucas Soil Calls for research projects in FP7 Soil measures in Rural Development Plans for 2007-2013 Best practices to mitigate negative effects of sealing Assess synergies with river basin management plans Assess synergies with the protection of coastal waters Integration of soil protection aspects in product policy to prevent soil contamination Interaction between soil protection and climate change … Lucas Soil Working Party “Land Cover/Use Statistics”, 20 October 2009

? Organic carbon content (%) in the surface horizon (0-30 cm) of European soils (Source: JRC) Working Party “Land Cover/Use Statistics”, 20 October 2009

Recent (controversial) findings Mean loss of SOC of 0.6%/y in 1978-2003 13 Mt C lost every year from British soils Industrial UK emissions have fallen by 13 Mt C since 1990 C loss and content is irrespective of land use, suggesting a link to climate change (Bellamy et al, 2005) Climate change can at most account for 10% of C loss (Smith et al, 2005) Land use and management probably main cause of C loss (Kirk et al, in print) Working Party “Land Cover/Use Statistics”, 20 October 2009

C losses can be reversed Source: R. Lal (2008) Working Party “Land Cover/Use Statistics”, 20 October 2009

Report from June 2008 conference Full report (in English) and executive summaries (in all EU languages) available at http://ec.europa.eu/ environment/soil/conf_en.htm Working Party “Land Cover/Use Statistics”, 20 October 2009

LUCAS-Soil 2009 Strong partnership DG ESTAT, JRC, DG ENV Collection of about 22,000 soil samples (10% of points) in the Member States covered by the 2009 survey Shipment of samples to the JRC (Ispra) -> drying Phisical/chemical analyses on soil samples by a single laboratory: Mandatory: soil particle size distribution and coarse fragments content, soil organic matter, pH Optional (in this order): CaCO3, P, N, K, multispectral properties, exchangeable cations Working Party “Land Cover/Use Statistics”, 20 October 2009

LUCAS-Soil 2009 timeline Kick-off meeting with contractors: February 2009 Definition of shipment rules: March-April 2009 First soil samples to Ispra: June 2009 Last soil samples to Ispra: expected in November 2009 Selection procedure for analytical laboratory: Oct-Nov 2009 Shipment of soil samples from Ispra to lab: January 2010 Completion of analyses by laboratory: June 2011 Elaboration of results by the JRC: second half of 2011 Working Party “Land Cover/Use Statistics”, 20 October 2009

In conclusion LUCAS-SOil is a statistical/research project First attempt ever to measure SOC stock at EU level With a harmonised sampling and analytical methodology Will provide an initial baseline against which monitor SOC evolution with time (e.g. every 5-10 years) Of fundamental importance for validating and further improving our C-cycle models (but also erosion etc.) Possible link with post-Kyoto Protocol Key information tool for policymaking Working Party “Land Cover/Use Statistics”, 20 October 2009

Thank you for your attention! http://ec.europa.eu/environment/soil/index.htm Working Party “Land Cover/Use Statistics”, 20 October 2009