ABSTRACT
Soil sealing and land take are a global threat to food security and social stability as well as to biodiversity and ecosystem services. The exponentially increasing consumption of the most fertile soils for urbanization and infrastructure is affecting the availability of cropland for feeding the global population. Policies addressing soil sealing and land take need to limit the expansion of urbanization on pristine agricultural land. A good start has been recently made in Italy, with the proposal, still pending in the Italian parliament, for a law that would limit soil sealing in agricultural areas. Cultural ecosystem services, urban soils form an integral part of urban environmental education - bridging the gap between people and nature. Ultimately, effective policies for limiting soil sealing need to address the underlying economic model of our society. As long as there will be a close coupling between economic growth and increased soil sealing there will be little hope to reverse the negative trend.
