Review of economic, social and environmental impacts of and implementation barriers for soil protection and sustainable management measures for arable land across the EU

Agricultural management practices often are still unsustainable and are having a negative impact on soil functions and soil-based ecosystem services. This report addresses the following questions: what are the reasons why measures to protect land and especially soils are not fully taken up by land managers? What are the barriers hindering the implementation of sustainable soil management (SSM) measures and the reasons behind them? The empirical basis of the report is a literature analysis and a questionnaire sent to international research projects such as LANDMARK, RECARE, SoilCare, DIVERSFARMING, DIVERSIFOOD, AgriCO2ltura, Pegasus or ISOIL focusing on soil and land management asking for specific examples of implementa-tion implications and barriers.