The traditional view of soil is as a producer of biomass -
food, timber, fibre. The environmental services that soils perform
are only now being recognised for their full value. From a nature
conservation perspective these soil services are vital. Soils
provide a physical substrate that supports important habitats, but
they also recycle nutrients, filter water and provide an important
habitat in their own right for species of conservation
significance. In many areas, conservation management requires us to
understand the underlying influence of soils both in terms of their
structure and biodiversity.
Soil biodiversity itself is stunning. We are a long way from
fully understanding this diversity, but soil scientists are
beginning to appreciate its nature and the role it plays in
maintaining terrestrial ecosystems. This is a huge area for study,
and, in their work on soils, the conservation agencies are
concentrating on those issues of most direct relevance to nature
conservation. Through inter-agency working groups, and
participation in government programmes, the conservation agencies
have now made their interest in soil science clear. Agency soil
scientists are providing advice to the devolved administrations, to
Defra and to the European Commission, on the nature conservation
aspects of soils, including how soil issues might affect future
implementation of the Habitats Directive. A strong drive is now
coming from the Commission for soil issues to be taken account of
in a range of environmental and agricultural programmes work to
develop conservation-relevant soil indicators is also a priority
for the agencies to help us monitor change through time.
The environmental significance of soils may have been ignored
for too long, but a lot is now happening and the UK's conservation
agencies are fully engaged at both the national and European
level.
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