Soil protection and intensive animal husbandry in the Netherlands

Soil quality is more difficult to define than air and water quality but it has an impact especially on the latter. The export of soil-based nutrients to waters is of increasing concern. Policy aiming at preservation of soil quality can be either effect-orientated or source-orientated. Statutory measures for soil protection in the Netherlands originate from the Soil Protection Act (SPA), which came into force in January, 1987. The SPA still is a framework law which provides very general regulations only. Practical implementation is achieved by means of General Administrative Orders (GAO). The law offers a framework for measures and regulations to protect the properties of soil which constitute the conditions for proper soil functioning. The first GAO introduced was the ‘Decree on use of animal manure’, which became operational on 1 April 1987. During recent decades there has been a large increase of intensive animal husbandry in the Netherlands. This development led to a strong imbalance between minerals imported in the country in the form of feed and raw materials for feed production, and minerals exported by dairy and animal products. The minerals produced in manure and animal slurries are far exceeding the amounts needed for proper crop fertilization. Standards for the use of animal manure are based on the phosphate content but this results in the application of unacceptable amounts of nitrogen and heavy metals. Phosphate saturation of soil was safeguarded by introducing special regulations for P-saturated soils. However, this has not been successful on judicial basis, indicating the need for general environmental protection legislation, instead of the compartmental (air-water-soil) approach.