Joanna Piasecka

Abstract The soil is among the most complex elements of the environment, and the world’s oldest soils have been in existence for about 3 billion years. Settlement from the earliest days of humankind’s existence on earth has involved the use of soils to produce biomass as a food source. This article draws attention to contemporary domestic and EU policies relating to soil degradation and erosion. The analysis of these policies commenced with the key problem of defi ning soil, this in fact being so complex in its nature that no exact defi nition was forthcoming for many years, this in turn hindering the taking of any more major decisions in this sphere. Implementation processes in European Union countries were affected as a consequence, as were actual steps to protect and maintain this component of the natural environment. As of the beginning of 2010, there was essentially still no operating EU defi nition of soil, but the matter began to be addressed via Directive 2010/75/EU on industrial emissions (the IED Directive). However, the non-binding European Soil Charter of 1972 did pay attention to the erosion of soil by water, and a further step towards the protection of soil from erosion came in 1981 with the World Soil Charter (FAO - UN).Soil erosion has been attended to repeatedly by the European Commission and European Parliament, though the records the above analysis sought to identify were often too general, or else enshrined nothing more than voluntary principles where the use of soil was concerned, in this way failing to contribute much to improving the situation. The long-term lack of a defi nition of soil has certainly not been irrelevant to today’s policy in the area. A further problem to which attention is drawn by the European Commission concerns a lack of reliable and accurate methods by which to research soil erosion. For this reason, it is not possible to determine the exact scale of the phenomenon.The problem of soil erosion in Poland was noticed even before accession to the Community. Contributions in this regard were made by the Institute of Soil Science and Plant Cultivation, whose long-term studies have sought to assess the scale of the problem and take appropriate steps to protect the soil against erosion.The article signals the problem of soil erosion which is perceived, but not addressed by policy instruments. There is a lack of consistency to both domestic policy and that of the EUwhere the approach to soil erosion is concerned, the problem being addressed in documents relating to such areas as agriculture, climate change, the protection of waters against pollution, spatial information infrastructure, farming of vegetables andfruits, forest management and even the, marking of products.The review of Polish law reveals that the emphasis is mainly on safeguarding soils against chemical changes. Not much space is devoted to mechanical changes connectedinter alia with the processes of erosion. There are now many items of both EU and Polish legislation relating to soil erosion, but the policy these relate to cannot be said to have had spectacular effects.Nevertheless, Poland does implement programmes and research projects aiming to reduce surface runoff. An example is the project “Prevention of water erosion in mountains associated with the runoff of rainwater. Maintenance of mountain streams and related infrastructure in good condition”, as implemented under the project concerning small-scale retention across the State Forests National Forest Holding.

Joanna Piasecka

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