8th International Annual Meeting of ELSA (May 7 and 8, 2009)

Soil protection means climate protection!

Soil protection in Europe has up to now largely been limited to the disposal of pollution legacy. Preventive soil and area protection, as well as the significance of soils for climate change are hardly perceived.

Climate change, however, is a fact, and the first effects can clearly be felt through weather extremes. The interactions between climate change and soil protection are clearly visible in this context. For instance, about 80 per cent of the worldwide carbon reservoir are stored in the active carbon cycle of soils.

Can we permit the transition from wetlands to moor, taking account of this background?
Is an increased cultivation of energy crops on agricultural areas the right path, taking into account the background of a worldwide food crisis?
Which effects does climate change have upon soil?
How can we use and cultivate our areas and soils in a sustainable manner?
What can towns do, taking into consideration an increasing sealing against heat exposure and floods?

We are facing new challenges in soil protection, and we need strategies, in order to alleviate the effects of climate change. These have to take into consideration the local, regional, European and global dimensions. Thinking about the future, and acting today is the need of the hour.

The organizers gladly invite you to participate and cooperate in the 8th Annual Meeting of the European Land and Soil Alliance with the topic "Soil Protection and Climate Change" in Wuppertal town.

Application:
by fax: +49 (0)541-323-15-2000
by e-mail: mail@bodenbuendnis.org
by internet: www.bodenbuendnis.org

Inquiries by phone:
Uta Mählmann +49 (0)541-323-2000 (Soil Alliance)
Reinhard Gierse +49 (0)202-563-5316 (Wuppertal town)