Environmental Standards Scotland: Scotland's Soils Should Be Protected In Law

9th October 2024

Environmental Standards Scotland (ESS) is recommending the Scottish Government bring forward legislative proposals to protect Scotland's soils.

A report published today by ESS, The Risks to Scotland's Soils: A Scoping Report, highlights the need for action to safeguard this valuable resource, which provides a habitat for over half of the world's species, helps to reduce climate change and its impacts and underpins the vast majority of Scotland's food.

The report says more must be done to prevent further degradation of the country's soil, which is a non-renewable resource that cannot be replaced, and measures to protect it should be put into law. In Scotland, soil erosion, compaction and reduced crop yield caused by lower water retention, cost the economy up to £125 million per year although the true cost of soil degradation is likely to be significantly higher.

Compacted soils, which are caused by construction, increasingly heavy farm machinery and livestock and recreational activities, retain less water. This increases flooding, further increases erosion and decreases biodiversity and drought resistance. Every 1% rise in flooding as a result of soil degradation could lead to an increase in local authority flood damage costs of £2.6 million per year, in addition to the costs of insurance claims for each property damaged by the rain.

Other countries have legislated to place monitoring and protection of soils on a statutory footing. However, in Scotland the legislative landscape for soils is fragmentary and largely aims to protect other environmental areas (such as water) from poor management of soils, rather than soils itself.

Mark Roberts, CEO of ESS, said: "The Scottish Government, formerly a world leader with the Soils Framework, is now falling behind international best practice with regards to statutory proposals to monitor and protect soils. Our report recommends that the Scottish Government bring forward legislative proposals that reflect developments in Europe - such as the European Union's (EU) Nature Restoration Law and proposed Soil Monitoring Law - so that it can meet its commitment to align with EU standards where appropriate."

Roberts added that ESS' initial scoping report also reveals that there is a lack of research on risks to Scotland's soil: "A lack of research means that we do not fully understand or know the impacts on several risks to Scotland's soils. Improving the evidence base on soil will improve the effectiveness of environmental law in Scotland. That’s why today we are also recommending the Scottish Government and the wider public sector, commission monitoring and research on the risks to Scotland’s soils so we have better data to understand and protect this valuable resource."

Key Findings, Recommendations and Further Work
The importance of soil to Scotland’s environment
Key finding 1: Soils provide a wide range of services for the environment, ecosystems and human activity. They are one of the most diverse and important habitats on earth and underpin the production of the vast majority of Scotland’s food. Healthy soils regulate key biogeochemical cycles, including nitrogen and carbon cycles and so can limit both the causes and impacts of climate change (for example, by capturing greenhouse gases and reducing flooding and vulnerability to drought).

Key finding 2: Degradation of soil has an economic impact. In Scotland, erosion, compaction and reduced crop yield caused by lower water retention cost the economy up to £125 million per year - the true cost of degradation is likely to be significantly higher but there is insufficient data for many of the risks to soils to determine costs associated with them. For every 1% increase in flooding associated with soil degradation there will be an increase in local authority flood damage costs of £2.6 million per year in addition to insurance claims of up to £75,000 per property for a single flood event.

Legislation
Key finding 3: The legislative landscape for soils is particularly fragmentary and there is no framework legislation to protect soils equivalent to the Water Environment and Water Services (Scotland) Act 2003 and the Air Quality (Scotland) Regulations 2000 which seek to protect our water and air. The legislative landscape for soil largely aims to protect other elements of the natural environment (such as water) from poor management of soils, rather than soil itself.

Key finding 4: The Scottish Soils Framework was published by Scottish Government in 2009 but, unlike soil frameworks in other countries, was not developed with the intention of enacted it into law. The main aim of the framework was to promote sustainable management and protection of soils. The framework identified ‘soil outcomes’ and the actions required to achieve them, including proposing the introduction of a soil monitoring action plan. Only a small number of tasks in the action plan have been implemented and there is currently no systematic nationwide monitoring scheme in Scotland.

Key finding 5: In addition to the European Union’s (EU’s) proposed Nature Restoration Law, which includes requirements for setting a satisfactory level for soil carbon stocks and targets for the restoration of peatland soils, proposals for a Directive on Soil Monitoring and Resilience are also at an advanced stage. Scottish Government, formerly a world leader with the Soils Framework, is falling behind international best practice in this area and will need to consider mirroring developments in Europe if Scotland is to keep pace. The proposal for a Directive on Soil Monitoring and Resilience includes practices which would lead to improvements in Scottish soil and adopting these will be beneficial to Scotland’s environment.

Key finding 6: Other countries have legislated to place monitoring and protection of soils on a statutory footing. One of the best examples of this is Switzerland, which developed a soil strategy then quickly enacted this into law in 2020. Findings of the Swiss Soil Monitoring Network (NABO) must be reported to policy makers every five years.

Recommendation 1: Under its commitment to keep pace with EU law, the Scottish Government should bring forward legislative proposals that reflect the proposed EU Soil Monitoring Law and Nature Restoration Law by introducing a statutory duty to protect and monitor soil, creating mandatory targets for restoration of drained peatland soils and reassessing contaminated land and soil sealing policy. The legislation could build upon the work undertaken in 2009 and recent work on monitoring by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee and James Hutton Institute.

Risks to Scotland’s soil
Key finding 7: Environmental Standards Scotland (ESS) has identified 12 risks to soil in Scotland, several of which also pose a risk to the wider environment. ESS has undertaken a preliminary analysis of these risks to inform decisions about which should be prioritised for further scrutiny or analysis, or where action is required by the Scottish Government and others to address them. The risks ESS has identified and discussed in this report are summarised in the list below:

from application of waste to land
from biodiversity loss
from carbon sequestration schemes
from compaction
from contamination
from the approach to data and monitoring
from disease and pests
from erosion
from landfilling waste soil
to soil carbon
from soil sealing
to and from water retention, flooding and drought

Key finding 8: Compaction, erosion and the loss of soil organic matter (including soil organic carbon) are closely linked risks to soil quality. These in turn can reduce the water storage capacity and thus increase the risk of flooding and decrease the resilience to drought. They pose a risk to crop yields, biodiversity, climate change reduction, flooding and water supplies and quality. Soil carbon stocks appear steady in Scotland, but compaction and erosion rates in Scotland are higher than in EU countries and the United Kingdom (UK). Water levels stored in Scottish soils are also predicted to drop due to climate change.

Further work by ESS: ESS will undertake further analysis of the impact of compaction and erosion on soil services in Scotland. This will involve a comprehensive review of: all issues linked to compaction and erosion; water retention and drought resistance including soil carbon (specifically soil organic matter, as it relates to compaction and erosion, but not the sequestration of atmospheric carbon); and the effectiveness of existing policy and legislative approaches to managing them.

Key finding 9: Contaminated land is regulated by Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. This requires local authorities to identify and investigate potentially contaminated sites. Some local authorities have stated they are not doing this routinely. The majority of contaminated sites are instead handled through the planning system.

Further work by ESS: ESS has begun investigatory work on the effectiveness of, and compliance with, Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act (1990). In particular, ESS will consider whether local authorities across Scotland are routinely carrying out their duties under Part 2A and whether failures to identify contaminated sites may pose environmental risks.

Key finding 10: There is a lack of research in Scotland on several risks to soil. Areas ESS has identified as particularly lacking are: soil biodiversity; soil and water contamination caused by spreading of waste on land (such as sewage sludge); and the impact of carbon sequestration schemes on soil carbon stocks (such as tree planting). As a consequence, there is insufficient data for ESS to draw conclusions on the level of risk associated with these issues.

Recommendation 2: Improving the evidence base on soil will improve the effectiveness of environmental law in Scotland. ESS recommends that Scottish Government and the wider public sector (e.g. NatureScot, SEPA and Scottish Forestry amongst others) commission monitoring and research to address identified gaps in the evidence base. This should be supported by data gathered from a nationwide monitoring programme introduced by legislation to keep pace with the EU’s proposed Soil Monitoring Law.

Key finding 11: The loss of soil to landfill poses several risks to the services provided by soil and the wider environment but detailed analysis of the data and evidence available on the drivers for, and disincentives to, this practice in Scotland is beyond the scope of this report. ESS will continue to monitor data relating to the landfilling of hazardous and non-hazardous soil waste and will undertake further scrutiny if appropriate.

Key finding 12: Soils are a vector for diseases and pests that pose risks to plants, crops and to national food security. ESS is satisfied that sufficient work is being done by public authorities in relation to soilborne diseases and pests and no further work by ESS in this area is proposed.

Download the full report HERE
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