The Development of Soil Science in Veneto

The 1:250,000 scale soil map in the years 2000 can be seen as a significant consolidation of soil surveying and mapping activities in the Veneto region, after some pioneering experiences by Alvise Comel in the years 1950–60; furthermore, it has also given the chance to train a group of soil surveyors, that later became part of the permanent staff of the Veneto Regional Environmental Protection Agency. Starting from that initiative, in the last twenty years soil mapping has gone further with in-depth studies, until an almost complete coverage of the plain and hilly territory at 1:50,000 scale. The situation that arose in Veneto in the late 1990s and early 2000s was a favourable meeting of skills and sensitivity that enabled to reach a qualified knowledge of the soils, solid ground on which to build a new monitoring network in the regional territory. In this path, collaborations first with the Province of Venice and then with the Universities of Venice, Padua and recently Verona have been fruitful. Land evaluation studies, both for agronomic and environmental purposes, were grounded to in-depth soil knowledge, which now gives solid bases also to monitoring the effects of human activities on soil quality.