Annals : Food Science and Technology (Jan 2010)
SOIL EROSION AND CONSERVATION IN ROMANIA - SOME FIGURES, FACTS AND ITS IMPACT ON ENVIRONMENT
Abstract
Being a common and finite resource, soil - as a natural and very complex ecosystem, is essential to human society. Inseveral regions of Europe, including Romania too, soil resources are degraded due to different causes, or, sometimes,irreversibly lost, mainly due to erosion, decline in organic matter or contamination. As regard to soil erosion only, inRomania, about 42% of the total agricultural lands are affected by water erosion in different forms and intensities.Soil degradation has negative impacts on other areas also, not only in-site but also off-site, areas which are alsoconsidered of common interest for the people (e.g. air and water quality, biodiversity and climate change). Costs torestore such a damages and environmental quality in general may be very high and thus preferable to be avoided.To maintain and/or improve a good quality of the soils for a long period of time, there needed to be implemented inRomania , as much as possible, some agri-environmental schemes, according to the current EU models and policies, inparticular, through the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).The paper briefly presents and analyzes such agri-environmental schemes developed for the agricultural lands from thehilly areas in Romania that is very affected by water erosion and landslides – the Curvature zone of Sub-Carpathians.The schemes, developed within the Research Station for Soil Erosion and Conservation Aldeni-Buzau, which belongs tothe University of Agricultural Sciences in Bucharest, is based on friendly agricultural practices to be implemented onagricultural lands located on slopes. Also, the new conceptual European model, known as Driving Forces-Pressures-State-Impacts-Responces (DPSIR), adapted for the soil erosion impact assesment on environment, will be herepresented, in order to be promoted and used on a large scale in Romania as well.
