Five decades' experience of long‐term soil monitoring, and key design principles, to assist the <scp>EU</scp> soil health mission

Summary

Abstract The European Union has a long‐term objective to achieve healthy soils by 2050. The European Commission has proposed a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on Soil Monitoring and Resilience (Soil Monitoring Law, SML), the first stage of which is to focus on setting up a soil monitoring framework and assessing soils throughout the EU. Situated in NW Europe, the UK has substantial experience in soil monitoring over the last half century which may usefully contribute to this wider EU effort. A set of overarching principles have and continue to guide design of national soil monitoring and may prove helpful as other European countries embark on similar monitoring programmes. Therefore, we present the principles of design from five decades of national soil monitoring.