Healthy soils are essential for sustainable food production, achieving climate neutrality and halting the loss of biodiversity. The European Commission turned the spotlights on these vital aspects of soils with the launch of the EU Soil Observatory (EUSO) in 2021 to support the European Green Deal. Also, the EU Soil Strategy for 2030 and the proposed Soil Monitoring Law marked a major milestone for soil protection. This article provides an overview of the functioning of the EUSO within this policy context. Through its activities, the EUSO supports an EU‐wide soil monitoring system and provides policy support to a wide range of policy areas. Moreover, the EUSO monitors the state of soil health in the EU through the EUSO Soil Health Dashboard. This comprehensive and easy understandable tool shows, for the first time, where current scientific evidence converges to indicate areas in the EU likely to be affected by soil degradation. Furthermore, the EUSO supports soil research and innovation, enhances the capacity and functionality of the European Soil Data Centre and supports citizen engagements regarding soil matters. Overall, since 2021, the EUSO has successfully taken up its role to be the principal knowledge hub for soil information and data to underpin EU policy development and implementation. Also in the next years, EUSO will continue to provide data and knowledge to monitor, safeguard and restore soils in the EU.

中文翻译：

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欧盟土壤观测站如何为健康土壤提供坚实的科学依据


健康的土壤对于可持续粮食生产、实现气候中和和阻止生物多样性丧失至关重要。欧盟委员会于 2021 年启动欧盟土壤观测站 (EUSO)，将注意力转向土壤的这些重要方面，以支持欧洲绿色协议。此外，欧盟2030年土壤战略和拟议的土壤监测法标志着土壤保护的一个重要里程碑。本文概述了 EUSO 在此政策背景下的运作。 EUSO 通过其活动支持欧盟范围内的土壤监测系统，并为广泛的政策领域提供政策支持。此外，EUSO 通过 EUSO 土壤健康仪表板监控欧盟的土壤健康状况。这个全面且易于理解的工具首次显示了当前科学证据的集中点，表明欧盟地区可能受到土壤退化的影响。此外，EUSO 支持土壤研究和创新，增强欧洲土壤数据中心的能力和功能，并支持公民参与土壤事务。总体而言，自 2021 年以来，EUSO 已成功发挥其作为土壤信息和数据主要知识中心的作用，以支持欧盟政策的制定和实施。同样在未来几年，EUSO 将继续提供数据和知识来监测、保护和恢复欧盟的土壤。