Maintaining protective soil cover focuses on keeping soil continuously shielded with plant residues, living vegetation, or organic mulches. This cover reduces erosion by softening the impact of raindrops, improves water infiltration, and limits evaporation. It also enhances soil biology by feeding microorganisms and supporting the formation of organic matter. Living covers, such as cover crops, stabilize soil with their roots, suppress weeds, and improve nutrient cycling. By preventing degradation and maintaining moisture and fertility, coverage is a key practice in sustainable soil management.

Recommendations for Implementation

• Maintaining protective soil cover is implemented with the overarching objective of minimising the duration and extent of bare soil. The appropriate solution depends on land use, soil type, slope, erosion risk, climate, water availability and management capacity.
• In agricultural systems, this can be implemented through cover crops, perennial crops, crop residues, diverse rotations and living mulches, as part of agroecological practices. In urban and peri-urban areas, it can include permanent ground vegetation, lawns, meadows, urban forest understory, community gardens, green infrastructure and vegetated vacant or restored land.
• Living vegetation should be prioritised where land use allows it. Cover crops, perennial vegetation, grass–legume mixtures and other living ground covers protect soil through their canopy and root systems while contributing organic matter, nutrient cycling, water infiltration and biological activity. Continuous living cover can also improve soil hydrological functioning by increasing infiltration and reducing runoff. Living cover therefore need to be selected and scheduled according to local soil, climate, crop rotation and water conditions rather than applied uniformly.
• Where living vegetation cannot provide continuous protection, organic mulching and retention of plant residues can be used to cover exposed soil. Suitable materials may include straw, crop residues, wood chips, bark, leaves, composted green waste or other locally available organic materials that are demonstrably safe for the intended use. Mulches protect the surface against raindrop impact, reduce runoff and erosion, moderate soil temperature and evaporation, and can contribute organic matter as they decompose.
• Maintaining protective soil cover can also be included for the repurposing of degraded or underused land: temporary cover of exposed soil should be promoted, potentially combined with erosion-control cover ; during redevelopment, the duration and spatial extent of bare soil can thus be minimised.
• Urban green spaces can be designed to minimise exposed soil and maintain living roots and organic inputs.
• Protective cover requires maintenance and adaptive management: vegetation should be monitored and managed so that bare patches do not develop, while mulch and plant residues should be replenished as they decompose or are displaced. Management operations such as mowing, grazing, cultivation or soil preparation should be timed to minimise disturbance and avoid periods when soil is particularly vulnerable to compaction or erosion.

Examples enhancing soil health

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Planning examples

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Technical guides and inspiring research

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