EUSO annual bulletin 2023

This report presents the activities of the EU Soil Observatory (EUSO) that took place during 2022. Through its five main objectives, the EUSO contributes to improving the monitoring of soils, to creating and sharing knowledge and data about EU soils, in particular producing tailored outputs in support of policy development and to the wider public. These activities feed into the overarching knowledge management objective under which the EUSO provided extensive policy support to a range of policy areas, notably the upcoming Soil Health Law and the Horizon Europe’s Soil Mission. A key element of the EU Soil Observatory are the six EUSO Working Groups (WG) that aim to discuss policy or technical advances on a particular topic. Their activities in 2022 were diverse and ranged from providing policy support (Soil Monitoring, Soil Pollution WGs), technical progress on integration of soil data (Soil Data WG) or advancing scientific knowledge about soils (Soil Erosion WG). This report also highlights the developments to be expected in 2023. In particular, the EUSO will produce reports on soil pollution, soil organic carbon trends, pesticides in soils, land degradation and a soil fertility index and work on the state of soil health in the EU. A key development will be the publication of the EUSO soil health dashboard. The EUSO will support dedicated Soil Mission research projects and will continue to provide support for the upcoming Soil Health Law proposal. The EUSO is also planning a 2023 EU Soil Week.