| Popis: |
Problems of land resources are acute in the Mediterranean region. Good quality land is scarce, and often threatened by development; soil erosion is encouraged not only by physical conditions but also by agricultural intensification. Faced with these problems, the European Commission has been carrying out a project to assess and map soil erosion risk and land quality, as a basis for policy formulation, within the context of the CORINE Programme. This paper outlines the methods which have been developed, indicates the results which will be achieved, and presents a brief critique of the approach. It is concluded that, whilst problems of data availability have meant that the methods are inevitably no more than a first approximation, the project represents the first genuine attempt to provide consistent information on soil erosion risk and land quality for policy applications at the European level. As such it both helps to highlight future research needs and forms a basis for better informed policy on land resources conservation. |
