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New Report Uncovers Threats to Soil | 15 Mar 2010

Mismanaging soil biodiversity could worsen climate change, jeopardise agricultural production and compromise the quality of ground water, according to a new report by the European Commission.

The report, 'Soil biodiversity: functions, threats and tools for policy makers' reviews the state of knowledge of soil biodiversity, its functions, its contribution to ecosystem services and its relevance for the sustainability of human society.

It has been published ahead of today's Environment Council meeting in Brussels, where the Spanish presidency will seek to relaunch a legislative proposal to protect European soils.

The proposal was first presented by the European Commission in 2006, with support from the European Parliament, but was opposed in 2007 by five Member States, including the UK.

The report will be officially presented at a high-level conference on 'Soil, Climate Change and Biodiversity: where do we stand?', which will take place on 23-24 September 2010 in Brussels.

One of the report's authors (professor Van der Putten) will speak at Green Week in the session 'The soil life we walk on: does it matter?' to be held in Brussels on Wednesday 2 June 2010 at 14:30-16:00.

The report is available here