Summary
The Statutory Research Tasks Unit for Nature & the Environment, Soil and Land Use, Searching and viewing soil and subsurface data
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The Statutory Research Tasks Unit for Nature & the Environment (WOT Nature & Environment) ensures that the statutory research tasks in support of nature and environmental policies are carried out professionally and reliably. These tasks are carried out for and financed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Nature. The research topics are divided across a number of expertise areas. The Soil and Land Use expertise area collects, manages and publishes up-to-date data on the soil and subsurface, landforms, water tables and land use in the Netherlands.
Land in the Netherlands is intensively used. Its suitability for agriculture, nature conservation, buildings and infrastructure depends on the state of the subsurface. The subsurface is also important for water abstraction, underground services and mineral extraction, as well as a growing number of other demands such as geothermal extraction, seasonal thermal energy storage (STES) and carbon capture and storage. In parts of the Netherlands the subsurface is affected by subsidence, which also has consequences for land uses on the surface.
To make well-informed policy decisions on the use of the surface space and the subsurface, the government needs good quality data and models. The National Key Registry of the Subsurface Act (Wet basisregistratie ondergrond) was introduced to ensure that data and models for the subsurface are widely available. This information can be found in the National Key Registry of the Subsurface (Basisregistratie Ondergrond – BRO), a government register of data on soils and geological structure of the Netherlands’ subsurface.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Nature is responsible for maintaining and updating data on soils and the subsurface, landforms and water table depth in the BRO. The Ministry has delegated these tasks to WOT Nature & Environment at Wageningen Environmental Research (WENR). WENR also develops maps on specific topics, including land use, to support the Ministry’s policies and other statutory research tasks. These tasks all fall within the expertise area Soil and Land Use of the WOT Nature & Environment.
Basisregistratie ondergrond
Wageningen Environmental Research manages data and maps on soils and the subsurface, landforms, water table depth and the physical properties of soils in the BRO. Soil chemical data were added to the BRO in 2023.
These data are available from the Dutch Soil Information System (SIS). The data can be accessed via the web portals Bodemdata.nl and BROloket.
Thematic maps on soil and land use
For questions concerning rural areas, the expertise area Soil and Land Use produce maps and databases tailored for specific issues in policymaking and other statutory research tasks. These maps are derived from the maps and data in the National Key Registry of the Subsurface, the Dutch Soil Information System and other sources.
- Land Use Database of the Netherlands (LGN): land use in the Netherlands, with an emphasis on rural areas
- Soil Physical Units Map (BOFEK): soil stratification and hydrological behaviour for model calculations of transport of water and dissolved compounds in the soil
- Landscape based Soil Map (LBK): features of the physical landscape for future-proof spatial planning and landscape management in the Netherlands.
Long read on the value of soil and subsurface data
De bodem is onze basis: Bodeminformatie helpt ons bij klimaatuitdagingen - WUR
The importance of soil and subsurface data for land use and landscape planning