FAO estimates that nearly 220 million hectares of land in the European region are moderately or severely degraded, this equals an area four times the size of France. The costs of soil degradation and erosion in Europe are estimated at about ten percent of agricultural production value each year.
Soil erosion occurs mainly when land is exposed to wind and rain through loss of vegetative cover.
It is obvious that only a permanent ground cover of trees and grasses and proper soil conservation measures can help to avoid landslides and tragedies as recently occurred in southern Italy. Flood risks are often dramatically increased due to a loss of vegetative cover and deforestation. Another problem, particularly in more temperate regions in Europe, is that the natural acidity of many soils is made worse by excessive application of manure as well as the acid rain produced by heavy industries throughout the region. The poisonous sludge that hit the Donana national wetland park in southern Spain some weeks ago, is another example where uncontrolled industrial development has destroyed 3,600 hectares of farmland. Soil degradation caused by chemical and industrial pollution, i.e. by heavy metals, is estimated to affect 20 million hectares, particularly in Eastern Europe as well as parts of Scandinavia.