In the coming years, government road developments will make a major dent in soil that can actually be used for cooking. The Ministry of Transport’s calculations show that over the next six years, six thousand decares of topsoil will be used for various road projects and railways. That is, an average of one thousand acres, or one million square meters, a year. – Soil conservation considerations will be central in the work on the new national transport plan, says Minister of Agriculture and Food Sandra Borch to news. Figures obtained by the ministry show that just under four thousand of the six are due to so-called large projects. The E6 between Trondheim and Værnes is one of the major road projects underway. The stretch of road is 23 km and passes through agricultural areas. Illustration: New Roads The rest are minor measures on the road such as improvements, pedestrian and bicycle paths and the like. Most mountains in Norway Norway consists of a lot of mountains. Only three percent of Norway’s area is arable land. Of this, only 30 percent is suitable for growing food grains. No EU country has a lower share. The issue of food security and self-sufficiency has become topical with both the pandemic and the war in Ukraine. Food security in Norway is threatened. Norway is a country with a lot of mountains. Only three percent of Norway is arable land. The rest is not suitable for agriculture. Photo: John O’Nolan / Unsplash Last year, the Storting adopted a new, national soil protection strategy with a stricter soil protection goal. A maximum of 3,000 decares of cultivated land must be able to be reallocated each year, and this goal must be reached by 2025. This means that no more than 3,000 decares of cultivated land in Norway can be used for anything other than agriculture. From 2015 to 2020, an average of 1650 acres of cultivated land were reallocated annually just for transport purposes. This means that roads and railways alone took half of the current “quota” for reallocation of cultivated land. Now the government wants to sharpen the soil protection strategy even more. The goal in the Hurdal platform is that a maximum of 2,000 acres of cultivated land will be demolished each year. – Is it realistic to reach a new soil protection target of 2,000 decares when there is a reduction of just under 6,000 decares in the plans of the Ministry of Transport over the next six years? – It will be demanding and ambitious, says Borch to news. She points out that they will consider this when re-examining the soil protection strategy. A proposal for tightening is submitted by the Finance Committee, and will be considered by the Storting on 14 June. Kornåker in Trøndelag. Last week, the Storting’s finance committee agreed that the reallocation of topsoil should not exceed 2000 decares annually. According to the plans, the matter will be presented to the Storting on 14 June. Photo: Ingrid Lindgaard Stranden / news Backlog of statistics Last year, the redistribution of cultivated land was around 2,900 acres. It shows preliminary figures from the municipalities and the state, so-called KOSTRA figures from Statistics Norway (SSB). Borch points out that if these figures are final, it will mean that the country is below the Storting’s adopted soil protection target of 3,000 decares for the first time. It will also be the lowest level in fifty years. But still, there are some uncertainties. Construction of a new EC through Gudbrandsdalen south of Vinstra in 2014. This is one of many road projects in Norway that have affected topsoil. Photo: Lars Erik Skrefsrud / news The Storting’s soil protection strategy is about limiting permits that are granted to reallocate cultivated land. Statistics Norway also obtains an overview that shows the actual downsizing that is being done. – Actual demolition is something completely different than reallocation. The reallocation may have been made many years ago in zoning plans, says senior adviser at Statistics Norway Anne Rørholt. Between 2017 and 2020, the reported reallocation of cultivated land has been around 4,000 acres per year. But the actual downsizing has been about twice as large as the official statistics show. Table showing the actual degradation of agricultural land, and the type of land on which it is built. Applies to the whole country in the years 2016-2019. The numbers indicate acres. Illustration: Statistics Norway / Statistics Norway – This is due to the fact that there is a huge backlog between permits that have been granted and developments that are now being made. The statistics have also not captured agriculture’s own reallocations where, for example, farm buildings or greenhouses are built on cultivated land, says Rørholt. She points out that it must take longer before one sees the effect of the Storting’s objectives. Cultivated or arable land The ambitions of the soil protection strategy are about reallocation of cultivated land. But there are also developments on what is called arable land. That is, soil that can be used for food production, but which is not in operation right now. The figures from Statistics Norway show that in 2020, 7,365 decares of arable land were reallocated. In total, it was agreed to reduce 12,031 acres of topsoil this year. Cultivated land and arable land are two different definitions of topsoil. The arable land is land that can be suitable for, for example, growing vegetables, but which is not currently in use. Photo: Hansd H. Bjørstad – A soil protection strategy should include both cultivated and arable land. The arable land is our food reserve. By dismantling it, one shifts the problem. Arable land is future food soil that can give us increased self-sufficiency, says soil protection manager in the Norwegian Farmers’ Association, Audhild Slapgård. The farmers’ association praises the government for putting soil protection on the agenda, but calls for statutory measures to follow up on the objectives. – We are often compared to our neighboring countries. In Denmark, they have 59 percent cultivated land. We with only three percent demand that we must treat the earth with respect and give it a far greater protection. If something is to be lost, it must only be for critical societal functions, says Slapgård. – In the soil protection strategies, there is first and foremost an attention to cultivated land, and that is what is raised in the Hurdal platform as well, says Borch. But she also shows that the arable land, especially in the food grain areas, will be assessed in the future. A lot of arable land already planned to be developed A report from Statistics Norway shows that a total of 83,000 decares of arable land are already included in the development plans of the municipalities around the country. Land that is intended to be used either for building homes or for business. Borch asks that the municipalities, county municipalities and state administrators look at the possibility of taking some of this land out of the plans. The development of the E6 at Ørbekk in Stange in 2014 with a four-lane motorway and a new Dovrebane. Food soil loses against roads when societal interests are weighed against each other. Although in the first round it may have resisted, for example, housing development. Photo: Hilde Lillejord / Jernbaneverket The Norwegian Institute for Bioeconomics (NIBIO) has previously called for greater focus on land that goes to government developments such as roads and railways. The Norwegian Directorate of Agriculture points out that in cases involving major road developments, there are societal interests that are weighed against each other. Then it is often that the topsoil loses. – Large transport projects can be inflexible when choosing a route, and they can therefore be difficult to place outside cultivated and arable land. In addition, societal benefits are weighed against each other, and then in many cases the benefits of roads will take precedence over the consideration of topsoil, says advisor in the Norwegian Directorate of Agriculture, Oda Andrea Stensrud Gundersen. Signs in the district Bodøsjøen in Bodø. Photo: Sondre Skjelvik / news
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Roads and railways will take six thousand acres of topsoil over the next six years – news Trøndelag
