Description

Soils are the basis of human existence by being the substrate for food and crop production. Soils hovever, are increasingly threatened by degradation, pollution, erosion, loss of organic matter, salinization and other processes that render them unuseable for crop and food production. Soil degradation is not only a national problem, its effects straddle national boundaries by having an impact on water quality and soil contamination even in neighboring countries The 25 peer-reviewed papers of this volume contain a variety of interesting papers presented at the 6th ESSC Congress on soil protection and preservation measures and discuss the following topics: 1. Policies and strategies for soil protection. 2. Impact on forest fires on natural resources and cultural heritage. 3. Sustainable management of wet- and drylands. 4. Soil and water management under conditions of global climatic change. 5. Conservation and management of soil biodiversity. 6. Restoration and remediation of degraded lands. 7. Education in soil conservation and public awareness. The papers of this volume have and are generating innovative ideas to efficiently and effectively develop and implement new strategies and policies for soil conservation. The compilation is a valuable resource for policy-makers, NGOs, researchers and educators by assisting them to develop a series of innovative measures and modern strategies for soil conservation.