A soil route map for Scotland​

Soils underpin all nature-based systems and are therefore vital for Scotland’s communities and economy. From food security to transport disruption through events such as landslides, the climate resilience value of investing in healthy soils is recognised by the Climate Change Committee as a priority adaptation area for Scotland.

There are many risks threatening Scottish soils across different soil types and land covers. However, unlike air and water, there is no single overarching soil policy providing security and governance for Scottish soils. Soils are spread across multiple policy divisions, which results in a lack of cohesive leadership in tackling threats to soils.

The aim of this route map is to consolidate the challenges of managing soil systems to develop an overarching strategy for delivering improved soil security across Scottish landscapes.

Key points

There is increasing awareness of the important role soils play for our communities, economy and environment in terms of their ability to contribute to climate regulation, flood resilience, food security, support forestry and assist biodiversity. This is reflected in recent policy updates which have outlined objectives that directly relate to improvements in soil health and/or security, such as:

• The 3rd Scottish National Adaptation Plan 2024-2029
• Scotland’s National Peatlands Plan
• National Planning Framework 4
• UK Forestry Standard 5^th Edition
• The Vision for Agriculture and Agricultural Reform Programme (Agriculture and Rural Communities Act)
• Scottish Biodiversity Strategy to 2045

This route map acknowledges the challenges of addressing soil security in a policy context due to the absence of an overarching soil-specific policy. Currently actions to support soils sit across different policies, which focus on different environmental challenges at different scales. Nevertheless, this route map outlines opportunities to gain value and effectiveness through better coordination of existing activities and policy delivery.

Next steps

Objectives  

This route map recommends six objectives for Scotland to achieve our vision of ‘thriving soils for Scotland’s communities, economy and environment’: 

1. Lead – Inspire and collaborate to deliver the vision for Scottish soils 

2. Protect – Prevent further damage to soils 

3. Restore – Repair damaged soils 

4. Enhance – Strengthen soils for the future 

5. Evidence – Data, knowledge and wisdom relating to Scottish soils 

6. Mobilise – Communicate, engage and participate towards thriving soils in Scotland 

For further information, including recommendations, please read the report.

If you require the report in an alternative format, such as a Word document, please contact info@climatexchange.org.uk or 0131 651 4783. 

Image credit: Helga from Pixabay