In September 2014, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Teagasc launched the new Irish Soils Information System (SIS), which is the new 1:250,000-scale soils map of Ireland. It is part of an integrated information system, which provides a free public web portal, giving stakeholders, including farmers and local authorities, a tool to explore Irish soils and their properties.

Soils are the foundation of our rural environment. We know that each of our 213 soil types are unique and have their own characteristics and agronomic and environmental responses. Sustainable management of this national resource is key to achieving the smart, green growth envisaged in the Food Harvest 2020 strategy. Through this successful collaboration between the EPA and Teagasc, we are making a contribution to ensuring that Ireland’s green credentials are truly at the heart of our farm production and our countryside.

Farming activities are a critical developer and shaper of the rural landscape and environment which we enjoy in Ireland today. The detailed county maps have been in great demand among scientists, planners, local authorities and indeed farmers.

This map and its interpretations are intended for general planning and information purposes only, and do not eliminate the need for on-site sampling, testing and detailed study of specific sites for intensive uses. While this new soils map is not suitable for use at farm level, due to its scale, the SIS will be an invaluable tool in developing policies on sustainable land management and the agri-environment, and also has great potential as an education resource. Practical examples of the utility of this new map for policy and practice include the following:

(i) The Irish SIS is used by Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) for the new delineation of the Areas of Natural Constraints (ANC).The Irish SIS will provide additional data to assist the EU to evaluate which farms qualify for additional special assistance due to poor quality soil and other criteria. Under the CAP Reform agreement, member states have until 2018 to delineate the new areas, which will be known as ANC, or Areas of Natural Handicap (ANH). The areas will be redesignated using new, bio-physical criteria. The Irish SIS is currently being used by DAFM in the process to reclassify disadvantaged areas.

(ii) The Irish SIS will help to provide soil-specific nutrient advice and develop targeted and context- specific agri-environmental schemes. The new map will assist farmers in deciding how much nutrients to apply to their land. As part of finalising the research project, additional maps are currently being developed by the Teagasc research team, including derived data on soil pH, texture, drainage, depth, bulk density and soil organic carbon (SOC). These data, which will be available by mid-2015 on the Irish SIS, will be useful in the context of soils management.

(iii)The Irish SIS will help identify priority areas and more targeted actions in our water management approaches. The Water Framework Directive in Europe aims, inter alia, to achieve at least good water quality status by 2015 by mitigating the causes of pollution and these include the migration of soil nutrients into river basins. However, many catchments may not achieve good water quality status within this time frame due to the time lag of nutrient transport from source to receptor. This delay reflects the time it takes for nutrients to travel to the water body via hydrological and hydrogeological pathways and can range from days to years. The new map will help with an appraisal of the time lags which apply to differing areas and soil types throughout the country. The soil information system will facilitate more targeted and effective implementation of the river basin district management plans.

As a country, we have no option but to strive to protect our cleanest rivers. Europe requires us to protect our best waters just as much as it requires us to improve the obviously polluted ones. Various legislation demands such water protection and the Harvest 2020 strategy for Irish agriculture promotes our green image as Ireland’s unique competitive advantage. This will require all to play their part, including operators of wastewater treatment plants, both domestic and municipal.

The EPA recently awarded a three-year research project looking at the environmental and socio-economic implications of cattle exclusion from watercourses.

Loss of nutrients from grassland systems to water bodies is also a significant threat to water quality and represents one of the main environmental problems facing agri-ecosystems in Ireland.

Measures proposed under the Green Low Carbon Agri-environment Scheme include preventing bovine access to watercourses to improve water quality.

Studies suggest that unrestricted cattle access to watercourses can result in deteriorating water quality, although some conflicting studies indicate that cattle do not have a significant effect on stream water quality.

The research project will provide important information for policymakers in relation to the Nitrates and Water Framework Directives. It will also help guide agri-environmental policy and facilitate sustainable intensification objectives under Food Harvest 2020.

Another important environmental consideration is the potential of soils to act as a carbon sink, offsetting greenhouse gas emissions. The Irish SIS will facilitate the refinement of our methods for the greenhouse gas reporting.

This new map and online SIS is an output of an EPA/Teagasc-funded project. This five-year research project was a collaboration between Teagasc, Cranfield University and University College Dublin. The unique methodology, that combined novel digital mapping techniques with traditional soil survey application, represented a great cost savings (circa tenfold decrease) compared with traditional mapping.

Using information about the geology, climate, landform and vegetation, this project has been able to develop the key relationships found between soils and these key factors in Ireland and uses it to predict areas of soils that had not been previously mapped in detail.

The revival of a national effort on soils has been supported by significant investment since 2000 by the EPA research programme. Research in this area is intended to provide scientific knowledge to underpin the protection and sustainable use of soil.

Since the early 2000s, over €11m has been committed by the EPA towards soils and soils-related research. The EPA research programme 2014-2020 will build on the Irish SIS to support the development of sustainable soils and land-use policies, in order to help protect and ensure a sustainable use of our soils.

Finally, as part of the EPA-funded scoping desk study Soils Status & Protection, research priorities are being identified to inform future EPA research calls.

At a recent workshop, stakeholders strongly identified knowledge-transfer of research outputs to end-users, those being, for example, farmers, the education system, researchers or policy makers, as a research need. This is a very important area, which the EPA research programme will aim at tackling over the coming years.

The Irish Soil Information System is available at http://soils.teagasc.ie.

The Irish Soil Information System Synthesis Report is available for download at: http://www.epa.ie/pubs/reports/research/land/research130irishsoilsinformationsystem.html.