SOILPRO: a LIFE+ project implementing soilmonitoring and protection together with regionalstakeholders of Sicily and Peloponnese.

According to the Thematic Strategy for Soil Protection, the LIFE+ ENV/IT/00428 SOILPROproject (http://www.soilpro.eu) has the overall objective of slowing down the progress ofsoil degradation in EU Member States, and supporting local and regional authorities (LRAs) inthe identification and monitoring of risk areas. The monitoring of the on‐going soildegradation processes and the evaluation of different protection measures are realizedthrough a web‐based application (SMS ‐ Soil MonitoringSystem), developed according todata and knowledge obtained from the different project partners. The SMS was initiallyapplied on the whole Sicily (Italy) and Peloponnese (Greece) regions and then tested on twopilot areas: the south‐western part of Sicily and the Prefecture of Corinth. Although the twostudy areas belong to the same Mediterranean region, they are very different in terms ofpolitical and organization. The employment of SMS in such administrative implementation inother EU Member States anddifferent contexts, will encourage ist Regions. The knowledge ofintensity and localization of degradation processes permits a better definition andapplication of the protection measures aimed at maintaining the soils in good agronomicaland environmental condition. Moreover, it also supports the development andimplementation of future soil and environmental policy, and the training of LRAs’ technicalstaff, farmers and other potential stakeholders. Finally, the effectiveness of the applied soilconservation measures is evaluated, and a campaign to stimulate public awareness on soildegradation processes has been launched.