Belgium
Area: 30.528 km²
Population: 11.190.845 inhabitants
Belgium is located on the southeast bank of the North Sea, bordered by The Netherlands to the
north, Germany and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg to the east and France to the south.
Belgium is composed of three main physiographic regions: (i) the northern lowland plains, up to 50 m
of altitude, stretch from the flat and fertile polders in the west to the poor sandy soils in the east, (ii)
the central plateau (50-200 m) shows a gently undulated landscape created by south-north running
rivers and (iii) the southern uplands (200-700 m) with ridges, depressions and high plateaus, where
ancient uplifted surfaces have been eroded and incised by the river system.
Belgium has a moderate maritime climate with generally mild temperatures, predominantly westerly
winds and regular rainfall ranging from 650 to 1400 mm/yr.
Belgian soils
Between 1949 and 1991 a detailed soil survey (at scale 1:5000) was performed and soil maps at a
scale of 1:20000 were published. The pedogenesis is strongly influenced by the nature of the parent
materials, as a great diversity of sedimentary rocks is observable in Belgium. The conversion of the
Belgian soil units into WRB Reference Soil Groups (RSG) has revealed that nearly 50 % of the total
number of RSG's (WRB, 1998) has been identified, illustrating the great diversity of Belgian soil types.
From North to South, dominant soil groups are Podzols, Luvisols and Cambisols according to the
origin of the parent materials: Cenozoic sands, quaternary loess, Paleozoic and Mesozoic various
rocks. Therefore, the dominant soil processes are essentially weathering (hydrolysis, acidolysis),
illuviation and acido-complexolysis. The use of this national legacy is of utmost importance for soil
assessment and management in Belgium
Central Belgium, soil map of Belgium
showing the soil variability at very large
scale on loess-derived soils (major Reference
Soil Groups on this area : Luvisols, Gleysols,
Cambisols and Regosols)
For 2014, the main soil uses were arable land and permanent crops (32 %), grassland (22 %),
woodland (20 %), built-up areas (at least 15 %) and other land (12 %).
Soil threats
With a population density of 367 inhabitants/km2, urbanisation is considered as one of the greatest
soil degradation contributor because built-up areas increased by 53 % (1570 km2) between 1982 and
2014 at the expense of agricultural land (and suitable soils for food production).
Erosion is considered a main threat to soil in agricultural areas. The localisation, causes and
magnitude of soil erosion problems reflect the distribution of landscapes in the three main
geographical regions. In central Belgium, characterised by a hilly topography, loess-derived Luvisols
and a high share of arable land, soil erosion caused by water and tillage is dominant, with soil loss
rates varying between a few to more than 10 tonnes/(ha.year) In regions where water and tillage
erosion are less important, soil erosion caused by crop harvesting is an important soil degradation
process. In the northern part of Belgium, wind erosion is observed in many fields. Adding to this,
several landslides have been identified, a lot of which are still active
Soil erosion by water on loess-derived soils on
sloping land in central Belgium
The decline in soil organic matter in arable land is considered to be another major soil threat. Soil
analysis have shown some steady decline of soil organic matter in percent terms from the beginning
of the nineties on. The observed percent decline may be caused by the increase in plough depth, the
substitution of permanent grassland by temporary grassland, (partial) substitution of stable manure
by liquid manure, etc.
Concerns about both soil organic matter and erosion have been integrated in cross-compliance
actions and in rural development plans.
The rich industrial past of Belgium has led to soil contamination on many locations. In most cases, the
pollution was caused locally by industrial risk activities or incidents involving hazardous substances.
But also diffuse contamination as a result of the scattering of pollutants over a large area occurs (eg.
caused by the use of pesticides, over-fertilization or atmospheric deposition from non-ferrous
metallurgy). In order to counter contamination issues, stringent soil remediation legislation has been
developed and on-and off-site remediation is ongoing.
Soil services
In Belgium soil is mostly valued for supporting food, feed, fiber, … production, for groundwater
protection and for providing a physical platform to human activities. Both the soil and the services it
provides are subject to major degradation processes as described above.