soil sealing

Umwelt-Indikator

Indicator: Land-take for settlements and transport infrastructure

A graph in the form of a bar chart shows how many hectares of land per day in Germany were newly designated for settlements and transport infrastructure between 2000 and 2022. The chart also shows the four-year average.

Between 2019 and 2022, 52 hectares of land per day were newly dedicated to settlements and transport infrastructure.Originally, the increase was to fall to 30 hectares per day by 2020. According to the goals of the sustainability strategy, the daily increase now should be less than 30 hectares per day by 2030.The Integrated Environmental Programme of the Federal Environment Ministry specifies a re... read more

Soil | Land

Paving and construction

street with concrete and asphalt

There’s no way around it: all construction has a direct impact on the soil. Depending on the extent of the changes brought about by construction, it can completely or partly destroy vital soil functions. For example, paving over open space destroys natural habitats. Land use resulting in drastic changes in both greenfield land and farmland can be curbed, however. read more

Soil | Land

Land – a precious resource

Photo of concrete slabs with gras growing through

It’s no exaggeration to say that Germany’s land undergoes all manner of abuse on a daily basis, ranging from contaminant and nutrient inputs to road and housing construction and erosion. Moreover, climate change has a devastating effect on soil ecology, which can also be degraded by intensive farming. read more

The Umweltbundesamt

For our environment