Preparation of bagging soil samples, by agents of the INFOSOL unit - Orléans
The results of the study " Preserving soil quality: towards a standard set of indicators "
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The results of the study " Preserving soil quality: towards a standard set of indicators "

The results of the study " Preserving soil quality: towards a standard set of indicators "

Soil performs functions that are essential to terrestrial ecosystems, food security and health. There is a lack of indicators to support public policies concerned with the proper functioning and protection of soils. The study provides a corpus of documented and shared information for assessing soil quality. Around fifty indicators have been selected by the study's authors to monitor soil quality and health. They relate to a soil function or a type of degradation, and are associated with an interpretation reference system that specifies the measurement or calculation method used and the reference values to which the result must be compared. The indication system also incorporates a series of choices that are largely up to the users of the assessment. It calls into question the purpose of the evaluation, which needs to be clarified in order to select the indicators and choose the interpretation reference system, the monitoring grid and whether or not to aggregate different indicators to make the evaluation more readable.

The results of the study " Preserving soil quality: towards a standard set of indicators ", delivered on November 20, 2024

The group, led by Isabelle Cousin, INRAE Research Director, Info&Sols research unit, and Maylis Desrousseaux, Senior Lecturer, Paris School of Urban Planning, and coordinated by Sophie Leenhardt, DEPE Project Manager, presented its work in three forms.

  • A scientific report of almost 800 pages includes a reminder of the background to the survey, a description of the method used and the complete bibliography (almost 1,800 references). It is divided into the following five sections : 
    o    Basis for the study: presents the background to the study, and how it was carried out;
    o    Defining soil quality: a review of the concepts of soil quality and health, indicator, function and multifunctionality, whose definitions are crucial insofar as they refer to choices that are highly decisive;
    o    Measuring soil quality: includes lessons on soil quality measurement;
    o    Take soil quality into account: analyze the possibility of taking this assessment into account in the decisions made by stakeholders and in the legal framework;
    o    General findings. 
  • A synthesis of the main findings of the scientific report has been produced for decision-makers.
  • A summary, a few dozen pages long, succinctly presents the main findings of this work.

Modification date: 17 March 2025 | Publication date: 19 February 2025 | By: DEPE