Soils - the Foundation of the Rural Economy?

Project Status: Completed (See Final Report Summary)
Type of Project: Development Activity
Principal Investigator: Dr Christine Watson, Scottish Agricultural College (Email)

 

Objectives

The soil beneath our feet is something most of us take for granted. However, it is a precious resource that governs agricultural sustainability and environmental quality both locally and globally. It is the foundation for all rural land use and, through the industries and businesses directly and indirectly dependent on it, affects the viability of the rural economy.

This project aims to broaden awareness of the importance of land management, and its economic consequences, amongst rural and urban communities. Furthermore, it seeks to identify practical ways of immediately improving the sustainable management of soils in the UK. This will inform the development of regional and national soil protection policies, taking account of the variation in both soils and land use priorities across the UK.

Over the winter period 2004/5 a series of regionally based one-day meetings on the theme “Soils – the Foundation of the Rural Economy?” will be organised. The meetings will bring together regional stakeholders, including policy makers, researchers, land users and community representatives, to agree priority actions for soil management in the UK. These meetings will also contribute to a series organised by BCPC under the general title “Sustainability Now!”