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Suelo

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Página Última modificación 15/03/2023
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El suelo sustenta la producción del 90 % de los alimentos, piensos, fibras textiles y combustibles y proporciona materias primas para las actividades de los sectores hortícola y de la construcción. El suelo también es esencial para la salud del ecosistema: purifica y regula el agua, es el motor del ciclo de los nutrientes y constituye un depósito de genes y especies que fomenta la biodiversidad. Es asimismo un sumidero de carbono a nivel mundial, de modo que desempeña una función importante en la posible ralentización del cambio climático y sus impactos. Además, dado que conserva huellas de nuestro pasado, es un elemento importante de nuestro patrimonio cultural.

Sin embargo, nuestra sociedad impone al suelo exigencias constantes y, a menudo, contradictorias. La capacidad del suelo para prestar servicios a los ecosistemas —en cuanto a la producción de alimentos, como depósito de biodiversidad y como regulador de los gases, el agua y los nutrientes— está, por tanto, sometida a presión. Los índices observados de sellado del suelo, erosión, disminución de la materia orgánica y contaminación reducen la capacidad de recuperación del suelo o su capacidad para absorber los cambios a los que está expuesto.

En el marco temporal de una vida humana, el suelo puede considerarse un recurso no renovable. Corresponde a nuestra sociedad gestionarlo de forma sostenible para disfrutar de sus beneficios. A pesar de la amplia gama de actividades que dependen en última instancia del suelo, no existe una legislación específica de la UE en la materia. Hasta la fecha, y a diferencia de lo que sucede con el agua y el aire, la protección del suelo se trata indirectamente o en el marco de políticas sectoriales: agricultura y silvicultura, energía, agua, cambio climático, protección de la naturaleza, residuos y productos químicos. La falta de una política de suelos coherente en la UE se refleja también en la escasez de datos armonizados sobre los suelos.

No obstante, en los últimos diez años se han producido avances en el desarrollo de políticas y esfuerzos coordinados en materia de datos. La Estrategia temática de la Comisión para la protección del suelo pone de relieve, desde 2006, la necesidad de proteger las funciones del suelo como un elemento esencial del desarrollo sostenible. A nivel mundial, las cuestiones relativas al suelo se tratan en el marco del concepto más amplio de la degradación de los suelos (hasta ahora limitada a las zonas áridas) a través de la Convención de las Naciones Unidas para la Lucha contra la Desertificación (CNULD). Más recientemente, el concepto de la preservación de las funciones del suelo se ha incorporado al de la neutralidad en la degradación del suelo en el marco de los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible (ODS) aprobados por la Asamblea General de las Naciones Unidas en 2015. Los ODS también incluyen objetivos sobre la calidad de los suelos, la contaminación de estos, la gestión de los productos químicos y los residuos. La aplicación de los ODS puede representar un importante vehículo para las medidas de protección del suelo en Europa. Las iniciativas orientadas a armonizar y normalizar la información sobre los suelos para su uso público están avanzando consiguientemente, a niveles tanto mundial como europeo.

La AEMA elabora evaluaciones basadas en indicadores sobre una gama de temas relacionados con el suelo y su uso  en el marco de su grupo temático de indicadores sobre el suelo y su uso  (serie LSI). La serie LSI comprende indicadores sobre ocupación del suelo, permeabilidad, gestión de sitios contaminados, humedad del suelo, erosión del suelo y carbono orgánico en el suelo. Está previsto incluir indicadores sobre fragmentación y reciclado. Los servicios de vigilancia terrestre del programa Copérnico proporcionan actualizaciones regulares sobre varios de estos indicadores. La AEMA publica asimismo evaluaciones ad hoc sobre determinados temas relacionados con el suelo, como la eficiencia de los recursos del suelo en zonas urbanizadas o los nutrientes del suelo y las cargas de metales en el medio ambiente.

En función del tema de que se trate, la AEMA coopera con la Comisión Europea (en particular, con el Centro Común de Investigación [CCI] y la DG de Medio Ambiente), con representantes de los centros de referencia nacionales sobre suelo, uso del suelo y ordenamiento territorial de Eionet y con otras redes o expertos europeos. Entre los interlocutores internacionales cabe citar la Secretaría de la CNULD, la Alianza Mundial por el Suelo, la Iniciativa Global de Indicadores (auspiciada por ONU-Hábitat) y el Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Medio Ambiente.

El trabajo de la AEMA en este ámbito temático ha contado desde 1996 con el apoyo de los correspondientes centros temáticos europeos (CTE); el CTE sobre sistemas urbanos y relativos al suelo y su uso (ETC/ULS), activo desde 2014, apoya actualmente el trabajo de la AEMA en materia de suelos. En 2007, las actividades relativas a los datos sobre el suelo se transfirieron al Centro de datos sobre suelos europeos del CCI.

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Land take Land take as a result of the expansion of residential areas and construction sites is the main cause of the increase in urban land coverage in Europe. Agricultural zones and, to a lesser extent, forests and semi-natural and natural areas are disappearing in favour of the development of artificial surfaces. This affects biodiversity since it decreases habitats and fragments the landscapes that support and connect them. Between 2006 and 2012, the annual land take in the European countries (EEA-39) assessed in the 2012 Corine land cover (CLC) project was approximately 107 000 ha/year. The figure for the 2000-2006 period was approximately 118 000 ha/year. In the 28 countries 1 covered by all three CLC assessment periods (1990-2000, 2000-2006 and 2006-2012), annual land take decreased by 10.5 % between 2000 and 2006, and by 13.5 % between 2006 and 2012. In absolute values, the annual land take in these 28 countries was 114 000 ha/year (1990-2000), 102 000 ha/year (2000-2006) and 98 500 ha/year (2006-2012). Between 2000 and 2006, more arable land and permanent crops were taken by artificial development than between 1990 and 2000, while fewer pastures and less mosaic farmland were taken over the same period. In fact, between 2006 and 2012, the types of land most taken for artificial development were arable land and permanent crops, followed by pastures and mixed agricultural areas.   1 The 28 countries covered by all three CLC assessment periods are AT, BE, BG, CZ, DE, DK, ES, EE, FR, GR, HR, HU, IE, IT, LT, LU, LV, ME, MT, NL, PL, PT, RO, RS, SI, SK, TR and UK.
Indicator Assessment
Archived
Imperviousness and imperviousness change Between 2006 and 2009, soil sealing, or imperviousness, increased in all EEA-39 countries by a total of 4 364 k m 2 . This corresponds to an annual average increase of 1 454 k m 2 , or 0.027 % of the total EEA-39 area. During this period, the rate of increase in soil sealing relative to country area varied from 0.001 % to 0.48 %. In 2009, the percentage of a countries' total area that was sealed also varied greatly, with values ranging from 0.15 % to 15.23 %. The highest sealing values, as a percentage of country area, occurred in small countries with high population densities, while the lowest sealing values could be found in large countries with low population densities. The most problematic situation occurs in countries where there is already a high percentage of sealing and where the annual rate of increase relative to country area is high.
Indicator Assessment
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Soil moisture Soil moisture content is already being affected by rising temperatures and changes in precipitation amounts, both of which are evidence of changes in climate. Since 1951, modelled soil moisture content significantly increased in parts of northern Europe and decreased in the Mediterranean region. Projections for 2021–2050 show a general change in summer soil moisture content over most of Europe, including significant decreases in the Mediterranean region and increases in the northeastern part of Europe. Maintaining water-retention capacity and porosity are important to reduce the impacts of intense rainfall and droughts, which are projected to become more frequent and severe. The modelled results are based on natural factors and disregard artificial drainage and irrigation practices.
Indicator Assessment
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Progress in management of contaminated sites Local soil contamination in 2011 was estimated at 2.5 million potentially contaminated sites in the EEA-39, of which about 45 % have been identified to date. About one third of an estimated total of 342 000 contaminated sites in the EEA-39 have already been identified and about 15 % of these 342 000 sites have been remediated. However, there are substantial differences in the underlying site definitions and interpretations that are used in different countries.   Four management steps are defined for the management and control of local soil contamination, namely site identification (or preliminary studies), preliminary investigations, main site investigations, and implementation of risk reduction measures. Progress with each of these steps provides evidence that countries are identifying potentially contaminated sites, verifying if these sites are actually contaminated and implementing remediation measures where these are required. Some countries have defined targets for the different steps.   Thirty of the 39 countries surveyed maintain comprehensive inventories for contaminated sites: 24 countries have central national data inventories, while six countries, namely Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Germany, Greece, Italy and Sweden, manage their inventories at the regional level. Almost all of the inventories include information on polluting activities, potentially contaminated sites and contaminated sites.   Contaminated soil continues to be commonly managed using “traditional” techniques, e.g. excavation and off-site disposal, which accounts for about one third of management practices. In-situ and ex-situ remediation techniques for contaminated soil are applied more or less equally.   Overall, the production sectors contribute more to local soil contamination than the service sectors, while mining activities are important sources of soil contamination in some countries. In the production sector, metal industries are reported as most polluting whereas the textile, leather, wood and paper industries are minor contributors to local soil contamination. Gasoline stations are the most frequently reported sources of contamination for the service sector.   The relative importance of different contaminants is similar for both liquid and solid matrices. The most frequent contaminants are mineral oils and heavy metals. Generally, phenols and cyanides make a negligible overall contribution to total contamination.   On average, 42 % of the total expenditure on the management of contaminated sites comes from public budgets. Annual national expenditures for the management of contaminated sites are on average about EUR 10.7 per capita. This corresponds to an average of 0.041 % of the national GDP. Around 81 % of the annual national expenditures for the management of contaminated sites is spent on remediation measures, while only 15 % is spent on site investigations. It should be noted that all results derive from data provided by 27 (out of 39) countries that returned the questionnaire, and not all countries answered all questions.
Indicator Assessment
Archived
Land take Land take by the expansion of residential areas and construction sites is the main cause of the increase in the coverage of urban land at the European level. Agricultural zones and, to a lesser extent, forests and semi-natural and natural areas, are disappearing in favour of the development of artificial surfaces. This affects biodiversity since it decreases habitats, the living space of a number of species, and fragments the landscapes that support and connect them. The annual land take in European countries assessed by 2006 Corine land cover project (EEA39 except Greece) was approximately 108 000 ha/year in 2000-2006. In 21 countries covered by both periods (1990-2000 and 2000-2006) the annual land take decreased by 9 % in the later period. The composition of land taken areas changed, too. More arable land and permanent crops and less pastures and mosaic farmland were taken by artificial development then in 1990-2000. Identified trends are expected to change little when next assessment for 2006-2012 becomes available in 2014.
Indicator Assessment
Archived
Soil erosion 105 million ha., or 16 % of Europe’s total land area (excluding Russia) were estimated to be affected by water erosion in the 1990s. Some 42 million ha. of land were estimated to be affected by wind erosion, of which around 1 million ha. were categorised as being severely affected. A recent new model of soil erosion by water has estimated the surface area affected in the EU‐27 at 130 million ha. Almost 20 % is subjected to soil loss in excess of 10 tonnes/ha./year. Increased variations in rainfallpattern and intensity will make soils moresusceptible to water erosion, with off-site effects of soil erosion increasing. Increased aridity will make finer-textured soils more vulnerable to wind erosion, especially if accompanied by a decrease in soil organic matter levels. Reliable quantitative projections for soil erosion are not available.
Indicator Assessment
Archived
Soil organic carbon Soil carbon stocks in the EU-27 are around 75 billion tonnes of carbon; around 50 % of which is located in Ireland, Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom (because of the large area of peatlands in these countries). The largest emissions of CO 2 from soils are due to conversion (drainage) of organic soils, and amount to 20–40 tonnes of CO 2 per hectare per year. The most effective option to manage soil carbon in order to mitigate climate change is to preserve existing stocks in soils, and especially the large stocks in peat and other soils with a high content of organic carbon. On average, soils in Europe are most likely to be accumulating carbon. Soils under grassland and forests are a carbon sink (estimated up to 80 million tonnes of carbon per year) whereas soils under arable land are a smaller carbon source (estimated from 10–40 million tonnes of carbon per year). The effects of climate change on soil organic carbon and soil respiration are complex, and depend on distinct climatic and biotic drivers. However, they lack rigorous supporting datasets. Climate change is expected to have an impact on soil carbon in the long term, but changes in the short term will more likely be driven by land management practices and land use change

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