The government has published a strategy to help protect England’s soils and help them store carbon dioxide - but the Soil Association has slammed the move as “deeply unambitious”.

DEFRA secretary of state Hilary Benn said population growth, transport and housing are threatening the soil.

The new strategy will help farmers manage their soil, with a framework to protect peat habitats, safeguards for soils in urban areas and prevention of soil pollution.

Benn said: “Soil is one of the building blocks of life. Good-quality soils are essential for a thriving farming industry, a sustainable food supply and a healthy environment.

“Britain’s soils hold more carbon than all the trees in Europe’s forests and their protection is critical if we are to successfully combat climate change.

“This is an important step in increasing the value we place on soil, and will safeguard this vital resource now and in the future.”

But the Soil Association believes the measures outlined will not put right the huge degradation that British soils have suffered over the last 200 years, partly as a result of what the government calls “intensive agricultural production”.

The Soil Association said: “Leading soil scientists from across the UK recently emphasised the crucial role soil can play in preventing climate change by absorbing CO2 from the atmosphere, but government plans won’t ensure it. The strategy sets out no adequate measures to make use of this vital facility to combat climate change.The leading soil scientists agree that organic farming will result in higher soil carbon levels compared to non-organic farming. One of the most important factors influencing soil carbon sequestration is the level and type of organic matter added to the soil, so farming methods based on the incorporation of livestock manures and fertility building plants into the system (as organic farming does) can provide significant soil carbon benefits.

“The Soil Association warmly welcomes the government’s recognition that our current system of applying large amounts of inputs, such as nitrogen fertiliser, is ‘not sustainable in the long term’.”

The association is urging DEFRA to adopt the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) soil carbon guidelines for accounting for changes in soil carbon, or a more sophisticated system of carbon accounting.

Peter Melchett, policy director of the Soil Association, said: “The government states that historically soil was protected using good agricultural management techniques such as ‘crop rotation, which allowed soils to naturally regenerate and grow crops sustainably’. Organic farming is underpinned by such practices, and along with its recognised ability to store soil carbon should be acknowledged as a key approach to protect our vital soils.”

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