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Soil

Why soil is important

Soils are a valuable natural resource. They help grow food, protect water, reduce the risk of flooding, provide a home for wildlife, and play an important role in tackling climate change.

Healthy soils are essential for protecting the wider environment, as well as addressing the climate and nature crises. When soils are damaged, these benefits can be lost, harming the environment, people, and the economy.

You can find out more about soils, the benefits they provide, and what happens when they are damaged on Scotland’s soils website.

Benefits of healthy soils

Tackling climate change

• Soils store carbon, helping to slow global warming
• Scotland’s soils hold more than 3000 million tonnes of carbon, around 60 times more than all our vegetation
• Releasing just 1% of this carbon as carbon dioxide would almost triple our annual greenhouse gas emissions
• Keeping soils healthy can reduce emissions of nitrous oxide - a powerful greenhouse gas
• Compacted soils are more likely to become waterlogged, increasing the risk of nitrous oxide emissions

Protecting water quality

• Soils act as a natural filter and buffer between the land and the water, trapping and breaking down potential pollutants before they reach rivers, lochs, groundwater and the sea
• Soils absorb and store rainwater, reducing the risk of runoff and erosion. This prevents potential pollutants from entering rivers and lochs

Reducing the risk of flooding and impacts of drought

• Rainwater can soak into soils, slowing the flow of water into rivers and helping to reduce the risk of flooding
• Healthy soils store more water than compacted soils. This helps to reduce the need for irrigation when water is scarce
• In Scotland, healthy soils can store more water than all of our freshwater lochs combined

Growing food and trees

• Soils provide space for water, air, nutrients and roots. These help plants to grow well, use water and nutrients efficiently, and produce consistent yields
• Soil compaction can reduce crop yields by half
• Soils support diverse organisms and suppress pests and diseases naturally. This reduces our reliance on pesticides and other chemicals

Supporting habitats, animals and plants

• Soils are full of life, from tiny microorganisms to earthworms and insects. A single teaspoon of healthy soil can contain more living things than there are people on Earth
• This rich living community supports food chains both below and above ground, and provides habitats for animals and other wildlife

SEPA's role in protecting soils

Healthy soils play a major part in delivering SEPA’s key priorities. These include protecting the water environment, and supporting resource efficiency, climate resilience, and the transition to net zero.

Protecting soils through the Environmental Authorisation (Scotland) Regulations (EASR)

Some activities - like spreading organic materials, cultivating land, and some industrial processes - can damage soil if they’re not done carefully.

To prevent pollution and safeguard the wider environment, SEPA regulates certain activities under the Environmental Authorisation (Scotland) Regulations (EASR).

Through these regulations, SEPA helps to ensure that:

• organic materials, including sewage sludge, are applied to land in a way that supports plant growth
• soils are managed in line with circular economy principles, protecting the soil resource and promoting the sustainable use of soils in construction
• Scotland’s water environment is protected from the impacts of soil degradation

Keeping soils healthy helps prevent nutrients, chemicals, and other potential contaminants from entering rivers, lochs and groundwater through erosion, run off and drainage.

Protecting soil through planning advice

As a statutory consultee in the planning system, we provide advice to planning authorities to help ensure that proposed developments minimise their impact on soils and the carbon stored within them. This includes guidance on:

• Assessing the impact of developments on peatland and carbon rich soils
• SEPA Standing Advice on peaty soil

SEPA provides an evidence resource pack which points to evidence we expect local authorities to use when creating Local Development Plans. SEPA also provides advice and guidance in relation to soils for Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA).

The role of soil in flooding and water scarcity

Healthy soils are more resilient to extreme rainfall, reducing the risk of flooding and the impacts of drought. We provide advice on how and why healthy soils can contribute to natural flood management and reduce the need for irrigation.

SEPA also uses soil data to help forecast flooding and provide advice on water scarcity.

Contact us

If you have any questions or require any further information or advice on any aspect of soil, please contact us.