THE EUROPEAN SOIL INFORMATION SYSTEM Region and Their Incorporation in the European Soil Information System (EUSIS)
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91 World Soil Resources Reports 91 ISSN 0532-0488 This document contains the proceedings of a technical consultation on the soil resources information systems developed in the various countries in the European THE EUROPEAN SOIL INFORMATION SYSTEM region and their incorporation in the European Soil Information System (EUSIS). A summary report of technical discussions, conclusions and recommendations and THE EUROPEAN SOIL individual country reports are included. INFORMATION SYSTEM EUROPEAN SOIL BUREAU EUROPEAN COMMISSION Food and Agriculture Organization O of the United Nations FAO Untitled-1 1 7/17/02, 9:54 AM World Soil Resources Reports 91 THE EUROPEAN SOIL INFORMATION SYSTEM Proceedings of a Technical Consultation Rome, Italy, 2-3 September 1999 Sponsored by FAO and the European Commission FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS Rome, 2000 The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. ISBN 92-5-104454-6 All rights reserved. Reproduction and dissemination of material in this information product for educational or other non-commercial purposes are authorized without any prior written permission from the copyright holders provided the source is fully acknowledged. Reproduction of material in this information product for resale or other commercial purposes is prohibited without written permission of the copyright holders. Applications for such permission should be addressed to the Chief, Publishing and Multimedia Service, Information Division, FAO, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00100 Rome, Italy or by e-mail to [email protected] © FAO 1999 Preface Soil information has been collected by individual countries for over 100 years, by FAO internationally for nearly 50 years and by the European Union for almost as long. Soil science, soil classification and taxonomy, and information technology have developed enormously over that time. Even more important, the perceived problems for which soil information is an essential knowledge base, and the uses to which it is put, have also changed greatly (and are continually changing). Briefly stated, the original scientific interest in soils and plant growth for commercial crop production has now been joined by numerous concerns of environmental protection, pollution control, carbon sequestration to limit climate change, organic farming and other aspects of multipurpose land use. Thus, the need for an easily accessible and standardized database of soil information at a scale and detail of information adequate for the requirements of the European countries became apparent and has been partially met in past years. The European Soils Bureau, established in 1996, is now able to consolidate the progress made in establishing and using an improved database. Proposals for this technical consultation were established following the 21st FAO Regional Conference for Europe in 1998. Attention was drawn to the actual and potential problems of soil degradation, including erosion in many areas, substantial loss of topsoil and loss of good agricultural land to urbanisation and pollution. There was general agreement on the importance of adequate soil information in the prevention of soil degradation and to facilitate crop forecasting. It was noted that the importance of the issues was recognized in the World Soil Charter of FAO and in the European Soil Charter. The Conference, noting FAO activities in developing a world soil and terrain database (SOTER), accepted a proposal by the EU presidency that it should invite the European Commission to examine the possibility of financing the extension of the existing European Soil Information System (EUSIS) to incorporate information from all countries that are entitled to attend the Conference. Various issues that needed to be addressed were noted. This Technical Consultation, convened to consider the issues related to soils information systems in Europe, was jointly organized by FAO and the European Commission with the technical support of the FAO Land and Water Development Division. Given the technical nature of the consultation, the participants were experts in the field of soil information. They made brief oral statements on the status of soil information in their respective countries (more detailed country reports are included in these proceedings). Success in sharing information to mutual benefit depends primarily on an agreement to interface the mapping, monitoring and research activities of the various national and sub-national soils institutions in Europe. Data must be readily available across borders, though not necessarily cost-free: the vast accumulation of data represents a huge investment of scientific effort and money so the copyright holders may not be willing to have it disseminated freely without any return to them and without their control of how it is used. Secondly, success depends on a willingness to harmonize the concepts underlying mapping scales, procedures and classification and then interpretation for solving problems or operating programmes concerning environmental, agricultural or other policies. iv The purpose of the meeting was not merely to promote the establishment of a European Soil Information System permitting easy inter-European exchange of data and experience, valuable though that is, but also to facilitate its practical use to solve problems both national and continental, and encourage exchange of experience with such activities. An important by-product would be the example to other countries, particularly those in the developing world, on how well-utilized soil information can help to solve national and global problems in a rational and cost-effective manner. Practically all countries in the world today have soil resource databases and soil specialists, due to the long-continued development work of FAO, and other aid agencies, and to the intellectual contributions of scientific institutions such as the IUSS and ISRIC. Reaping the full potential harvest from this past work requires continuing international contributions of ideas and in some cases finance. The exchange of views and the fuller understanding of the needs and potential contributions of each of the countries that resulted from this consultation will facilitate Europe-wide cooperation in the future. The conclusions and recommendations set some priorities for immediate and longer term action. European Soil Information System v Contents SUMMARY REPORT, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 1 Attendance 1 Opening of the Technical Consultation 2 Country Papers 2 Technical Discussions 2 Use of the information 5 Conclusions and Recommendations 5 KEYNOTE PAPERS 7 The Global Soil and Terrain Database and the European Soil Information System 9 The European Soil Information System 19 COUNTRY PAPERS 29 Some aspects of land information in Albaia 31 The status of soil mapping in Austria 35 Rapport sur l’état de l’information sur les sols en Belgique 39 Soil mapping in Bosnia and Herzegovina 43 The status of soil mapping in Cyprus 49 The status of soil mapping in the Czech Republic 61 The status of soil mapping in Finland 67 Knowledge and monitoring of soil resources in France 71 Soil information in Germany: the 1999 position 81 Soil databases and their use in Hungary 87 Advances in soil survey, monitoring and applications in Italy 97 The status of soil mapping in Lithuania 103 The status of soil mapping in the Maltese Islands 107 Information on soil mapping in Poland 111 The status of soil mapping in Romania 115 The status of soil mapping in Slovakia 119 Digital data on soils and environment in Slovenia for establishing a soil information system 123 Rapport national de la Suisse 127 The soil information system of Turkey 133 The status of soil mapping in the United Kingdom 137 ANNEX 1 OPENING ADDRESS 143 ANNEX 2 PROGRAMME 145 ANNEX 3 LIST OF PARTICIPANTS 147 vi Acknowledgements The support of the European Commission and the European Soil Bureau for this meeting hosted by FAO is gratefully acknowledged. Particular thanks are due to J. Meyer Roux and Luca Montanarella for their contributions in the discussions. The technical reports provided by the representatives of the particular countries are highly appreciated (see list of participants, Annex 3). Acknowledgement is also due to M Lindau, FAO Regional Representative for Europe, J. Meyer Roux, Deputy Director, SAI, JRC and H. Wolter, Director of the Land and Water Development Division, FAO, for their support and inspirational opening addresses. The contributions of R. Dudal, Professor Emeritus, W. G. Sombroek and N. Blum, Secretary General of the International Union of Soil Science, who expertly chaired the sessions, are gratefully acknowledged. Special thanks are due to F.O. Nachtergaele (AGLL/FAO) and Ms D. Moro, Regional Office for Europe (FAO) for the organization of the meeting and to M. F. Purnell (FAO Consultant), Ms S. Vrionides (FAO) and Ms C. Smith Redfern (FAO) for the compilation, review and editing of these proceedings. European Soil Information System vii Acronyms AGROTOPO Agrotopographical Database ARIS-unit Agriculture and Regional Information System Unit (EU) B&H Bosnia and Herzegovina CIS Commonwealth of Independent States (Russia) CNRS National Centre for Scientific Research, Universities