Soil Country Analyses Belgium Anna Rita Gentile, Sara Barceló-Cordón, Marc Van Liedekerke EUR 23959 EN/2 - 2009 Soil Country Analyses Belgium The mission of the JRC-IES is to provide scientific-technical support to the European Union’s policies for the protection and sustainable development of the European and global environment. European Commission Joint Research Centre Institute for Environment and Sustainability Contact information Address: Joint Research Centre, TP 280, Via E. Fermi 2749, 21027 Ispra (VA) Italy E-mail: [email protected] Tel.: +39 0332 785179 Fax: +39 0332 786394 http://ies.jrc.ec.europa.eu/ http://www.jrc.ec.europa.eu/ Legal Notice Neither the European Commission nor any person acting on behalf of the Commission is responsible for the use which might be made of this publication. 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It can be accessed through the Europa server http://europa.eu/ JRC 53315 EUR 23959 EN/2 ISBN 978-92-79-12980-3 ISSN 1018-5593 DOI 10.2788/27334 Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities © European Communities, 2009 Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged Printed in Italy TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction................................................................................................................................1 Organization of the report.......................................................................................................... 3 Authors and contributors ........................................................................................................... 4 Note from the editors ................................................................................................................. 5 1. THE GENERAL CONTEXT .............................................................................................. 7 1.1. Soil description......................................................................................................... 8 2. THE STATUS OF SOIL RESOURCES .......................................................................... 12 2.1. A snapshot of the status of soil in the country ....................................................... 12 2.2. The threats to soil................................................................................................... 14 2.2.1. Contamination ............................................................................................... 14 2.2.2. Salinisation .................................................................................................... 18 2.2.3. Erosion........................................................................................................... 18 2.2.4. Decline in soil organic matter ........................................................................ 20 2.2.5. Sealing........................................................................................................... 21 2.2.6. Hydro-geological risks ................................................................................... 22 2.3. Cross-cutting issues............................................................................................... 23 2.3.1. Brownfields .................................................................................................... 23 2.4. Soil services ........................................................................................................... 24 2.5. Hot spots ................................................................................................................ 25 2.5.1. Heavy metal contamination in the north of Flanders..................................... 25 2.6. Outlooks ................................................................................................................. 26 2.6.1. Integrated management of contaminated land and urban redevelopment ... 26 3. POLICY INSTRUMENTS AND INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION ............................. 27 3.1. Environmental policy .............................................................................................. 27 3.2. Soil policy instruments ........................................................................................... 27 3.2.1. Soil legislation................................................................................................ 27 3.2.2. Soil policy targets .......................................................................................... 30 3.2.3. Market based instruments for soil protection................................................. 32 3.3. International co-operation ...................................................................................... 38 4. SOIL MANAGEMENT, MONITORING AND ACCESS TO ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION........................................................................................................................ 40 4.1. Soil management ................................................................................................... 40 4.1.1. Contaminated sites........................................................................................ 40 4.2. Soil monitoring........................................................................................................ 42 4.2.1. Wallonia......................................................................................................... 43 4.3. Information, education and data access ................................................................ 44 4.3.1. Flanders......................................................................................................... 44 4.3.2. Wallonia......................................................................................................... 45 5. STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT .................................................................................. 46 6. ECONOMY AND SOCIETY............................................................................................ 50 6.1. A snapshot of the country socio-economic development....................................... 50 6.1.1. Social background ......................................................................................... 50 6.1.2. Historical economic background ................................................................... 50 6.1.3. Current economy ........................................................................................... 52 6.2. Economic statistics by sector................................................................................. 53 6.2.1. Agriculture ..................................................................................................... 53 6.2.2. Transport ....................................................................................................... 54 6.2.3. Energy ........................................................................................................... 54 6.2.4. Industry.......................................................................................................... 54 6.2.5. Trade ............................................................................................................. 55 6.2.6. Tourism.......................................................................................................... 55 6.2.7. Waste............................................................................................................. 56 7. LAND USE ...................................................................................................................... 58 7.1. Land use changes.................................................................................................. 58 REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................ 60 APPENDIX 1. Soil contamination from local sources.............................................................. 62 APPENDIX 2. Market Based Instruments (MBI) Fact sheets.................................................. 65 APPENDIX 3. Country review of European datasets for soil erosion, decline in organic matter and hidrogeological risks ......................................................................................................... 75 APPENDIX 4. Socio-economic indicators ............................................................................... 78 APPENDIX 5. Additional information....................................................................................... 81 List of tables Table 1. Facts and figures ....................................................................................................... 10 Table 2. Erosion risk class in agricultural land ........................................................................ 19 Table 3. Soil carbon content in arable land in Flanders (%of soil samples) ........................... 20 Table 4. Population density ..................................................................................................... 22 Table 5. Soil sealing ................................................................................................................ 22 Table 6. MBI overview ............................................................................................................. 34 Table