Dealing with soil threats in Lower Saxony, Germany

AbstractIn Germany a legal federal framework for soil protection was created in 1998 through the Federal Soil Protection Law. A State Soil Protection Law for Lower Saxony was enacted in 1999 in order to regulate the legal aspects of soil protection in Lower Saxony.The data contained in the soil information system for Lower Saxony (NIBIS®) provide a basis for decision making in state and regional development planning. The NIBIS® plays a significant role as part of the legal framework in respect of soil protection, nature protection and water protection.The main focus of currently existing state and federal acts on soil conservation is on material impacts (heavy metals, organics) rather than non‐material ones. In consideration of this situation and on behalf of Lower Saxony's Department for Environment, the Lower State Agency for Ecology in cooperation with other state agencies responsible for soil protection, is developing a concept to define targets for soil quality in Lower Saxony.Standards and aims of soil quality with regard to the factors of erosion and sealing by construction are described. In the case of water erosion, the concept defines degrees of threat to soil fertility depending on the depth of common rooting. For wind erosion, the concept of ‘tolerable field length’ has been introduced. For soil sealing the measure of building coverage with the main components ‘coverage ratio’ and the ‘floor space ratio’ is of great relevance. Consequently, quality standards have been attributed to both components. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.