Protection through policies and norms includes mandatory regulation that includes requirements related to enhancing soil health and increasing ecosystem services. Protection through policies and norms refers to regulatory and land-management practices aiming to prevent the degradation, disturbance, or loss of soil resources by maintaining them in their existing condition. It relies primarily on protective measures (legal protection, land-use restrictions, protected area designation, zoning, development prohibitions, etc.) to safeguard soil quantity, quality and the performances it delivers in its existing condition. Unlike soil restoration or rehabilitation, soil conservation does not involve active interventions to improve or recover soil health: rather, this is about avoiding impacts and preserving existing soil conditions.
Keep in mind that simply controlling land-use expansion (”saying what is not allowed”) is not enough:
“Instead of assuming that intensification will spontaneously occur and reduce pressure on land, controlling land-use expansion should go ahead or at least hand in hand with interventions to support intensification.” Meyfroidt, 2024, p.15