Economic Evaluation of Soils

Vala Ragnarsdottir

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All data from Stijn Reinhart, Wageningen

The method: basic design• Cost Benefit Analysis• Define alternatives• Compare measures with non-action scenario• Quantify the effects of measures• Valuation based on soil functions

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Extent of soil degradation in Europe

• Water erosion (arable land)– PESERA (vulnerability) – >0.5 t/ha/yr– Combined with CORINE 2000 (arable land)

• Soil organic matter– OCC data from European Soil Database + pedotransfer rules – 2% limit, or 3.4% SOM– Overlap with erosion measure: SOM measure only on areas of low

erosion risk• Compaction

– Susceptibility data (high & very high)• Salinization

– Irrigated land in Mediterranean countries + Hungary

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• Forestry– Combination of PESERA & CORINE/forest– Calculation of total area harvested per year: 8.2%

• Construction– Combination of PESERA & CORINE/building sites– Correction factors according to extent of urban area– Roads not included

Extent of soil degradation (forestry & construction)

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Areas of application package area to be

covered by package (million ha)

total area at risk (EU-25, m ha)

1 farming: serious erosion (>10 t/ha/yr) 8.1 10.1

2 farming: moderate to serious erosion 22.7 27.3

3 farming: moderate erosion (0.5-2 t/ha/yr) 31.3 37.7

low erosion (<0.5 t/ha/yr)

74.4

4 farming: SOM loss (OCC <2%) 30.5 35.0

5 farming: compaction 40.4 124.1

6 farming: salinization 7.15 14.3

7 forestry (>0.5 t/ha/yr erosion risk) 1.2 75.1

8 construction (>2 t/ha/yr erosion risk) 0.011 37.4

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On-site costs

• Based on agri-environment schemes– (subsidy must cover difference between farmer’s

benefit and total cost)– Add on-site benefit

• On literature• Calculated per hectare:

– Cost/ha * area of application = total cost

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Areas of applicationPackage Practice Threat at which it

is aimed Cost per ha per year (€)

Share in package

Cost per ha/y for package

conversion of arable land into forest

erosion, SOM loss 299 8%

conversion of arable land into pasture

erosion, SOM loss 155 8%

terracing (construction) erosion 893 0.5% terracing (maintenance) erosion 200 10% buffer strips erosion 230 74% residue management erosion, SOM loss 44 59% conservation tillage erosion, SOM loss 59 42% cover crop erosion, SOM loss,

compaction 57 25%

contour ploughing erosion 20 50% residue management erosion, SOM loss 44 70% conservation tillage erosion, SOM loss 59 50%

1. serious erosion (>10 t/ha/yr)

cover crop erosion, SOM loss, compaction

57 30%

296

On-site benefits• Erosion effect on productivity: local studies, but difficult to

generalize– Rooting depth– Water retention– Loss of nutrients– Conclusion: on-site benefits in Europe must be low

• Comparison of different figures in literature– Educated guess of average impact in affected areas

• Cumulative discounted benefit (erosion effect incremental)– 20 years for erosion and SOM, 4 years for compaction– 4% discount rate

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Off-site benefits• Erosion:

– Based on EEA figure of € 32/ha/year– transformed into tonnes of sediment– Benefit = avoided cost of dredging + disposal

sediment + removal of pollution from water• SOM loss:

– Same, plus carbon storage effect• Nothing for compaction• Salinization: rough indication as % of on-site

benefits

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The big picturePackage Cost

per ha Risk area (m ha)

Total cost package (mln €)

Additional cost (ml €)

On-site benefits (mln €)

Off-site benefits (mln €)

Balance (mln €)

serious erosion (>10 t/ha/yr)

296 8.1 2,398 2,091 2,060 2,484 +2453

moderate to serious erosion

140 22.7 3,178 2,772 899 1,085 -788

moderate (0.5-2 t/ha/yr)

120 31.3 3,756 3,276 292 350 -2,633

level areas, SOM loss

116 30.5 3,538 3,086 2,057 3,117 2,088

anti-compaction measures

4.5 40.4 182 122 1,027 - 905

salinization 1,076 7.15 7,688 7,304 2,887 606 -3,811

soil protection in forests

450 1.2 547 438 18.2 280 140

Protection con-truction sites

22,159 0.011 246 246 0 60 -186

Thank you

© Wageningen UR

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