Presentation of the dataset and results

The European Union's focus on soil health is evident through initiatives like the Soil Mission "Soil Deal for Europe" under Horizon Europe, which aims to improve soil quality by creating 100 Living Labs and Lighthouses by 2030. The Soil Monitoring and Resilience Law further accentuates this goal, striving to reduce the prevalence of unhealthy soils, currently estimated at 60-70%. The Western Balkans face similar challenges but lack the comprehensive soil health data needed for effective interventions. In 2015, the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC), through the Enlargement and Integration Programme, extended the LUCAS Soil Module to the Western Balkans. This survey marked the first systematic soil sampling in countries like Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia, collecting 1,015 soil samples. The dataset generated from this survey is crucial for understanding soil health and variability across the region. The LUCAS Soil Module stands out as the only harmonized and regular soil data collection effort across the EU, essential for aligning Western Balkan countries with European standards, particularly under the EU enlargement policy led by the Von der Leyen Commission. It highlights the diverse soil types in the region, such as Serbia's fertile Chernozems and Albania's saline and sodic soils, offering insights into the spatial variability of soil properties relative to land cover types. Detailed laboratory analyses further reveal significant differences in soil attributes across climatic regions and land use types, providing a comprehensive understanding of the pressures facing these soils. This report provides a detailed overview of the LUCAS database, emphasizing its importance to stakeholders interested in soil conservation, policy formulation, and agricultural productivity. Integrating soil health data from the Western Balkans into broader European initiatives offers an unparalleled opportunity to improve soil management in the region. This study marks an important step towards achieving healthier soils across the Western Balkans, contributing to the EU's overarching goal of improving soil health by 2050. Future research will build on this dataset to further explore soil-related challenges and inform policy measures that prioritize soil sustainability and resilience amid increasing environmental pressures.

ARIAS NAVARRO Cristina;  VIDOJEVIĆ Dragana;  ZDRULI P.;  ISLAMAJ Bexhet;  SCARPA Simone;  YUNTA Felipe;  WOJDA Piotr;  JONES Arwyn; 

2026-07-17

Publications Office of the European Union

JRC142550

978-92-68-31074-8 (online),   

1831-9424 (online),   

EUR 40419,    OP KJ-01-25-418-EN-N (online),   

https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC142550,   

10.2760/9105095 (online),