taken from European Commission, 2002. Towards a Thematic Strategy for Soil Protection. COM (2002) 179 final
Soil sealing
The floor covering for the construction of buildings, roads or other uses is called proofing. When the soil is sealed, reducing the area available for the performance of soil functions, including the absorption of rainwater for infiltration and filtration. In addition, the sealed areas may have a strong impact on the surrounding soil, changing water flow patterns and increasing the fragmentation of biodiversity. Soil sealing is almost irreversible. Developments in soil is largely determined by land use planning strategies that, unfortunately, often do not adequately take into account the effects of irreplaceable soil losses. [...]
Floods and landslides
Floods and landslides are natural hazards mostly closely related to the management of soil and land. The floods and mass movements of soil cause erosion, pollution by sediments and loss of soil resources, which in turn have a significant impact on activity and human health, damage to buildings and infrastructure, and loss of agricultural land .
In some cases these events may be due to the fact that the soil can not control the water cycle because of compaction or sealing.
This occurs more often in areas with highly erodible soils, steep slopes and heavy rainfall, such as the Alpine and Mediterranean regions (* 1) . In Italy over 50% of the land has been classified as high or very high landslide risk, with possible repercussions for the 60% of the population (34 million). More than 15% of the territory and 26% of the population is exposed to a very high risk. (* 2) The impact on people and economic losses are significant. In Italy, over the past 20 years, floods and landslides have affected more than 70,000 people and caused at least € 11 billion.
Soil sealing The floor covering for the construction of buildings, roads or other uses is called proofing. When the soil is sealed, reducing the area available for the performance of soil functions, including the absorption of rainwater for infiltration and filtration. In addition, the sealed areas may have a strong impact on the surrounding soil, changing water flow patterns and increasing the fragmentation of biodiversity. Soil sealing is almost irreversible. Developments in soil is largely determined by land use planning strategies that, unfortunately, often do not adequately take into account the effects of irreplaceable soil losses. [...]
Floods and landslides Floods and landslides are natural hazards mostly closely related to the management of soil and land. The floods and mass movements of soil cause erosion, pollution by sediments and loss of soil resources, which in turn have a significant impact on activity and human health, damage to buildings and infrastructure, and loss of agricultural land .
In some cases these events may be due to the fact that the soil can not control the water cycle because of compaction or sealing.
This occurs more often in areas with highly erodible soils, steep slopes and heavy rainfall, such as the Alpine and Mediterranean regions (* 1) . In Italy over 50% of the land has been classified as high or very high landslide risk, with possible repercussions for the 60% of the population (34 million). More than 15% of the territory and 26% of the population is exposed to a very high risk. (* 2) The impact on people and economic losses are significant. In Italy, over the past 20 years, floods and landslides have affected more than 70,000 people and caused at least € 11 billion. 
[image source: Regione Veneto]
_________________________________________________ (* 1) Down to earth: soil degradation and Sustainable Development in Europe. European Environment Agency 2000.
(* 2) Ministry of Environment. Classification of Italian municipalities according to the level of attention to the landslide risk. Monograph. Necklace of the Report on State of the Environment, Italy, 2000.
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