Soil as a Natural Resource of Croatia

Abstract

As a conditionally renewable natural resource and a unique resource, the soil (pedosphere) has a decisive influence on sustainable development of the Croatian economy, especially agriculture and environmental protection. The pedosphere is a “sphere of interaction” of all spheres with numerous functions: (1) productive (primary production of food for the biosphere, source of raw materials), (2) regulatory (climatic regulation—source of greenhouse gases, decomposition of plants and other residues, reactor, receptor, accumulator, and bio-transformator, universal filter for water, powerful buffer system), (3) biological regulatory (start and end point of numerous bio-cycles, gene reservoir and base of biodiversity), (4) storage (plant nutrients, water, heat energy—wastes), (5) spatial (natural landscape and anthroscape, spatial conditions for all activities: agriculture, forestry, industry, transport, housing, recreation, waste disposal), and (6) memorial—of natural geological, paleontological, pedological and human (archeological) heritage. Soil is a key medium of a harmonious flow of matter and energy and provides maintenance of harmony and equilibrium in terrestrial and semiterrestrial ecosystems, including agricultural (agro-) as well as forest (silvi-) ecosystems. Agriculture and forestry as renewable resource-based branches of the economy and the basis of sustainable development use more than 90 % of the land area of Croatia and 90 % of the area of the EU-27. Taking into account such complex and important soil functions, it is understandable that the accepted form of development is inspired by the multifunctional character of agriculture and land (MFCAL), on which the modern world, including the EU, bases sustainable development and formulates its attitude to soil as a natural resource. This concept places equal importance on the ecological regulatory and the productive functions of soil as a national resource. So in some areas (agricultural and forestland of high quality) the productive function of soil (food security and food safety) would be prevalent, and this will be given maximum consideration in the creation of the land management system. In other areas, such as protected areas (national parks, nature parks, and water-protection areas) the prevalent functions of soil would be environmental regulatory functions, and conversely special care would be given to properties of soil that are important in regulatory functions. For this purpose it is necessary to collect and integrate data on the state of soil, i.e., processes causing damage to soil: intensive agriculture (compaction, acidification, nutrient leaching), pollution from agriculture and other sources (heavy metals, pesticide residues, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, mineral carbohydrates), soil translocation (water and wind erosion, landslides, mines, waste dumps), to permanent land reallocation. Guidelines for efficient soil protection will be designed according to the DPSIR concept of the European Soil Bureau Network (ESBN). As the pedosphere is a “sphere of interaction with all spheres” and as they are interdependent, we advocate equal treatment of soil with the other members of the “ecological triad”: water–air–soil.

… if Moses had foreseen what suicidal agriculture would do to the land of the holy earth, might he not have been inspired to deliver another Commandment to establish man’s relation to the earth (soil) and to complete man’s trinity of responsibilities to his Creator, to his fellow men and the Holy Earth… what has been called the “Eleventh Commandment”.

W.C. Lowdermilk (1994).