Soil sealing, or more specifically, covering it with impermeable structures such as buildings, asphalt roads and parking lots, causes irreversible damages to the ecological functions of the soil and contributes to cause or worsen extreme events such as floods and heat waves in urban areas. It also threatens the availability of fertile soils and groundwater reservoirs for future generations.

Although the trend has apparently slowed down in recent years, the rate of land consumption is still worrying, and regions all over Europe are affected by increases in soil sealing.

The report "Overview of best practices for limiting soil sealing or mitigating its effects in EU-27" compiled by the Austrian Environment Agency upon commitment of the European Commission briefly reviews the state of land take and sealing in the EU.

Findings of the report will be included in the proposed Soil Framework Directive, which aims to protect European soils from degradation and contribute to resource efficiency. In fact, the report contains an exhaustive overview of existing Member State policies to reduce and mitigate soil sealing. It presents the technical measures taken to mitigate the effects of sealing as well as the compensation systems introduced. In addition, the report supplies information on soil quality criteria and existing networks with relevance to the reduction of sealing.

Please click here for more information and to download the report.