Finding and sharing solutions to

protect our soils

Europe's soil research hub

Who is RECARE-Hub for?

Farmers & Forestry

RECARE-Hub contains the latest information on preventing soil threats, and cost-benefit analysis on proven remediation techniques.

Industry

Discover innovative sustainable land management measures that can combat threats to key soil functions.

Policy makers

Find out more about land care strategies relevant to your region and our integrated assessment of existing soil related policy.

Researchers

Access a wealth of European research data on soil threats and the efficacy of land care strategies.

Teachers & environmentalists

Whether you're a teacher or a concerned environmentalist, find out why Europe's soils are under threat and what researchers are doing to help combat the problems.

Resources designed for you

 

The soil that underpins Europe's agricultural systems faces numerous threats.

If you are interested in learning about specific soil threats, you can explore the individual threats below. If you want detailed guidance for assessing soil degradation or learning about management measures to prevent and remediate against soil degradation, you might want to head straight over to RECARE's resources.

 

RESOURCES

New RECARE paper: A review of studies on soil contamination in Guadiamar, Spain over last 20 years.

GuadiamarLandscape

RECARE colleagues from the Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiología de Sevilla (IRNAS), CSIC in Spain have recently published a paper in Science of the Total Environment. The paper - Soil-plant relationships and contamination by trace elements: A review of twenty years of experimentation and monitoring after the Aznalcóllar (SW Spain) mine accident – focuses on a RECARE Case Study area in the south of Spain where severe soil contamination was caused by the Aznalcóllar mine accident in April 1998. The paper reviews the main results of research conducted in the affected area over the last 20 years, focusing on the soil-plant system. The reclamation techniques included the removal of sludge and soil surface layer and use of soil amendments. The effects of different types of amendments at different spatial scales and their effectiveness with time are reviewed. Monitoring of trace elements in soil and their transfer to plants (crops, herbs, shrubs, and trees) are evaluated to assess potential toxicity effects in the foodweb. The utility of some plants (accumulators) with regard to the biomonitoring of trace elements in the environment are also evaluated. Retention of trace elements by plant roots and their associated microorganisms has been used as a low-cost technique for trace element stabilization and soil remediation. The authors also evaluated the experience acquired in making the Guadiamar Green Corridor a large-scale soil reclamation and phytoremediation case study.

For more information about this paper, please contact Teodoro Marañón This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Case Study Sites

 Click on the map below to find out more about RECARE's case study sites
Case Studies

Project Partners

ABOUT US

RECARE was a multidisciplinary research project of 27 different organisations that assessed the threats to Europe's soils and identified innovative solutions to prevent further soil degradation.  The project ran from 2013 - 2018.

Academic Contact
Professor Coen Ritsema 
Wageningen University
E: coen.ritsema[AT]wur.nl

Media Contact
Dr Matt Reed
E: mreed[AT]glos.ac.uk

Funding

Funded by the European Commission FP7 Programme, ENV.2013.6.2-4 ‘Sustainable land care in Europe’.

EU grant agreement: 603498.

Project officer: Maria Yeroyanni.

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