Ireland's State of the Environment Report 2024

148 Chapter 6: Soil Table 6.2 Soil health descriptors in Annex 1 of the proposed EU soil monitoring law Part A: Soil descriptors with criteria for healthy soil condition established at the EU level Salinisation Soil Erosion Loss of organic soil carbon Subsoil compaction Part B: Soil descriptors with criteria for healthy soil condition established at the Member State level Excess nutrient content in soil Soil contamination Reduction of soil capacity to retain water Part C: Soil descriptors without criteria Excess nutrient content in soil (nitrates) Acidification (soil acidity in pH) Topsoil compaction Loss of soil biodiversity Part D: Land take and soil sealing indicators Land take and soil sealing The indicators (in km 2 and as a percentage of the Member State’s land surface area) are: ■ total artificial land ■ soil sealing ■ land take, reverse land take and net land take a ■ additional optional indicators such as land fragmentation, land recycling rate, land taken for commercial, logistics and energy use, and the consequences of land take, such as effects on ecosystems or flooding intensity Source: EC, 2023b a where ‘reverse land take’ means the conversion of artificial land into natural or semi-natural land and ‘net land take’ means the result of land take minus reverse land take. The four parts of Annex 1 are discussed in the following section, based on data from Irish studies or indicative (modelled) data from the EU Soil Observatory (EUSO, 2023). The criteria are presented only for general guidance to indicate whether the soil condition is likely to be of concern. They are not based on detailed, local assessments, which will be a requirement under the proposed soil monitoring law. Part A indicators: criteria set at EU level Salinisation. This is the accumulation of soluble salts such as sodium, magnesium and copper at a level that affects soil health. Salinisation is not a prevalent issue in Ireland. It affects southern European soils in the Iberian Peninsula and Mediterranean coastal areas (EC, 2008).