SocEnv Soils and Stones Report: Sustaining our Future by Influencing Change in the UK and Beyond
The Society for the Environment (SocEnv) are delighted to announce the launch of their new report.
The report draws together the collective expertise of environmental professionals working with soils and stones, from across sectors including construction, forestry, engineering, and agricultural management.
The culmination of sixteen months of tireless work by a dedicated task group, made up mostly of Chartered Environmentalists and facilitated by SocEnv, the report both highlights existing cross-sector good practice, as well as setting out key asks for ensuring this good practice is more widely adopted.
Welcoming the publication of the report, Dr Emma Wilcox, Chief Executive of SocEnv, said: "Soil is hugely important but also neglected and degraded, while stones are too often considered as more of a waste than a valuable resource or material.
"To sustain our future, urgent action is needed to ensure the protection of these natural resources, and this means we must improve understanding and practices across sectors.
"It has been fantastic to see members of the task group collaborate so well during the last sixteen months, to produce a report packed full of expert knowledge and guidance. We hope the report is read far and wide and look forward now to working with our partners to ensure delivery of the report's key asks."
Martin Ballard CEnv, Group Environment Manager at Willmott Dixon and lead of the Soils and Stones task group, said: "The value of the ground that we stand on continues to be overlooked. It takes generations to form and a moment's indiscipline to destroy. Soil and stone science is complex, fascinating and its reuse for human health and ecological habitat depends on its custodial care. Gathering CEnv professionals from each land-use sector to consider issues, risks and opportunities in using and reusing soil or stone, has highlighted consistent themes with 32 calls-to-action, that demand urgency in legislative framework and collaborative practice to protect soil and stones."
The report can be viewed here.
This report is supported by:
British Society of Soil Science (BSSS)
Chartered Institute of Architectural Technologists (CIAT)
Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM)
Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM)
Institute of Chartered Foresters (ICF)
Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA)
Institute of Fisheries Management (IFM)
Institute of Water (IWater)
Institution of Agricultural Engineers (IAgrE)
Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE)
Institution of Environmental Sciences (IES)
UK Soils