Description
Soil has a key role to play in terms of combatting climate change, feeding 10 billion people in 2050, and the preservation and recovery of biodiversity. A large percentage of the soil is owned by farmers, placing pressure on them to resolve these major issues.
The Soil Navigator assesses the initial capacities of five soil functions within a field including primary productivity, nutrient cycling, water purification and regulation, carbon sequestration and climate regulation, as well as biodiversity and habitat provision.
It is currently only available as a decision-making tool for 7 EU countries: Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy and Romania, where the research has been conducted.
The Soil Navigator decision support system (DSS) was developed in the Horizon 2020 project LANDMARK, where scientists from 22 partner institutions across 14 European countries to developed this assessment tool for policy makers and a policy framework for Brussels.