Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution

The Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution notes the fundamental importance of the issues being considered by the Policy Commission on the Future of Farming and Food and looks forward to the report which it will produce.

The Royal Commission is at present engaged in a study of environmental planning, in which it is investigating many different aspects of the relationships between land use and environmental change. The report of that study will be published in the spring.

For the time being the Royal Commission is not in a position to give comprehensive answers to the questions posed in the Policy Commission's consultation document. However, it wishes to draw attention to, and emphasise, the importance of using soils in a sustainable way. 'Sustainable use of soil' was the theme of the Royal Commission's Nineteenth Report (Cm 3165), published in 1996.

Chapter 5 discussed the use of soils for farming and forestry. Attached is a brief extract from the report's overall conclusions which provides an indication of the general approach to soils advocated by the Royal Commission.

SUSTAINABLE USE OF SOIL (Cm 3165), NINETEENTH REPORT OF THE ROYAL COMMISSION ON ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION extract from chapter 11, Conclusions and recommendations

Soils are complex systems. Mineral particles, organic matter and living organisms interact with each other, with the atmosphere, and with ground and surface water, in a dynamic equilibrium. The living organisms in soils play a central role, especially in cycling nutrients which are essential for life on land.

The adequacy of soil resources is a global issue. Serious forms of soil degradation are apparent in many other countries. The task of managing the UK's soils wisely has to be viewed against the probability that increased food production will be necessary in temperate countries to meet the rising world demand caused by a rapidly growing population) and in the face of serious shortages of water at global level.

Soils have been formed by natural processes which typically operate over centuries or millennia. Those in the UK are of recent origin and generally fertile. Soils have also been much affected by human activities over many centuries, for both good and ill.

Careful management can make soils more fertile and reverse some forms of degradation. Mismanagement can damage agricultural productivity, threaten natural or semi-natural populations of plants and animals, and cause widespread pollution that is difficult to reverse.

Sustainability implies that human activities ought not to deplete or degrade resources of soil at a faster rate than they are replenished by natural processes or human intervention. We need more knowledge about trends and a better understanding of soil processes before we can be confident of our ability to achieve that aim.

Everyone whose decisions or actions affect soils has a moral duty to exercise wise stewardship. It is almost always in the direct interests of those who own and work the land to do so, but they need more guidance and advice, informed by research findings. The decisions and activities of many other groups of people affect soils.

Soil is a vital resource which we believe has been taken too much for granted. Explicit policies are necessary to protect soils and ensure the use made of them for all purposes in future is the optimal sustainable use.

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