LIFE, the EU funding tool for the Environment

LIFE & Soil protection

Since 1992, LIFE has contributed to the implementation, updating and development of EU environmental policy and legislation by co-financing pilot or demonstration projects with European added value. Concerning soil issues, LIFE has supported initiatives that mitigate multiple threats to soil and ensure correct management and optimal quality of EU’s edaphic resources.

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The SOILCONS-WEB project developed a flex-

ible and user-friendly Decision Supporting System (DSS)

to assist municipalities and other relevant stakeholders

with soil and landscape management.

The tool is able to simulate, for a predefined area, the

impact of land use on key ecosystem services such as

the production of food, water adsorption and carbon sink

potential. For instance, the tool can calculate the lost hy-

drological function of sealed soil, based on an analysis

of the different soil types in the area, rainfall, etc. This

allows a local planner understand and quantify, for ex-

ample, the loss of soil water absorption capacity caused

by a new housing development on a former greenfield

site, and to take an informed decision as a result.

For this, the DSS provides and uses information on rele-

vant issues such as population, water resources, rainfall,

land use, urban fragmentation, geology, urban develop-

ment and main soil types. In addition to soil sealing, there

are sub-tools on other land management issues, such as

groundwater pollution and soil erosion.

The DSS is very flexible. Each module is targeted at spe-

cific end-users, from urban planners to farmers, NGOs

and the forestry sector. It can also adapt to specific ge-

ographic focus – from a municipality down to an indi-

vidual farm or villa. This tool holds high transferability

potential and can actively contribute to increase land-

scape awareness and ‘green’ urban development at city

council level.

LIFE08 ENV/IT/000408

The MoorLIFE project successfully demonstrated

a number of innovative approaches to landscape-scale

blanket bog restoration. Bogs and peatlands are large

depository of organic soil carbon. Recent estimates put

the figure at 445 Gt of organic carbon stored in the 2.8

million km2 of peatlands existing world-wide.

MoorLIFE targeted 886 ha of blanket bog located in the

South Pennine Moors, a Natura 2000 network site. Bogs

habitats in the area are the most degraded in the world,

due to 250 years of acid rain, intensive grazing, peat

cutting, managed burning and wildfires.

The restoration was carried out in four phases using a

number of pioneering restoration methods:

• Stabilisation and prevention of erosion of the remain-

ing peat and blanket bog with a layer of heather brash

and geotextiles.

• Application of lime, seed and fertiliser to establish a

nurse crop of grasses that will continue to stabilise

the peat and allow dwarf shrubs to establish.

• Gully blocking to raise the water table and enable the

proper functioning of the blanket bog.

• Reintroduction of the archetypal blanket bog plant spe-

cies, Sphagnum, on degraded areas.

Preliminary results from a carbon audit conducted by the

project show that the LIFE project’s revegetation of bare

peat will have a carbon benefit of at least four times the

carbon emissions generated by the restoration work and

potentially up to 30 times more.

LIFE08 NAT/UK/000202

PRODOSOL developed an integrated approach to

the problem of disposing of olive mill waste (OMW) on

agricultural soil. This system, which has great potential

for transferability, comprises two components:

• Two innovative and user-friendly monitoring tools. One

for soil that monitors 11 chemical parameters and

evaluates soil risk, the other for assessing the state of

water bodies in the disposal area.

• The demonstration of two methodologies for soil re-

mediation and protection — i.e. bioremediation and

zeolite application on soil. These practices, which are

well-known worldwide, have never been implemented

for OMW disposal areas.

The monitoring systems are highly innovative, given that

nothing similar had been devised prior to the project.

The mill owners will be able to measure on-site COD,

BOD and other parameters in their waste, thus enhanc-

ing waste management and safe disposal.

Concerning the soil remediation methods, bioremedia-

tion proved effective in reducing soil polyphenols (by

72.6%), as well as total nitrogen and available boron

and iron. Regarding zeolite application, it managed to

stabilise and reduce soil organic matter, total nitrogen,

boron and phosphorus; to reduce electrical conductivity;

and to stabilise exchangeable potassium and iron. Pro-

ject conclusions have been compiled in a series of legis-

lative recommendations for olive oil waste management

- both statutory and voluntary - of relevance to policy-

makers in the Mediterranean region.

LIFE07 ENV/GR/000280

MEDAPHON has developed an innovative tool

able to continuously monitor biological activity of soil

dwelling micro-fauna. The tool, called the EDAPHOLOG

System, consists of a probe buried in the soil in which

insects are trapped. These probes are equipped with a

technology that is able to:

• count the insects and estimate their body size;

• estimate microbiological activity in soil with different

moisture content; and

• record soil temperature and humidity.

The system also records and remotely sends real-time in-

formation via radio antennae to a central database using

GPRS and the Internet.

The information on soil biological and microbiological ac-

tivity can be used by various stakeholders to quickly identi-

fy areas of very low biodiversity or biodiversity ‘hotspots’.

For instance, the impact of plant protection actions that

affect soil biodiversity, such as insecticide spraying, can

be followed in real-time, allowing farmers take better-

informed decisions. Soil contamination and bioremedia-

tion actions can also be assessed quickly for impacts on

soil biota.

The device can operate for several months without human

intervention. As the first automated real-time counting

device for soil micro-fauna, the EDAPHOLOG System has

great potential as a tool for supporting local authority de-

cision-making and helping EU Member States implement

the recommendations of the EU’s Soil Thematic Strategy.

LIFE08 ENV/H/000292

Environment

SOIL SEALING

SOIL BIODIVERSITY

LAND CONTAMINATION

CARBON CAPTURE

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Visit the LIFE website: ec.europa.eu/life

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