Soil is a vital and non-renewable resource, which performs many important functions. Soil quality
management is faced with a number of challenges including overcoming objections to policies for
soil protection, and the resource requirements implementation will entail. Further to this, soil is
often neglected, as it is not high on the public or regulatory agenda. This work has focused on
collecting large and cost effective data sets and raising awareness of soil, through the use of
members of the public or ‘citizen scientists’. The aim of this PhD research was to assess the
challenges facing soil protection and to evaluate role of citizen science for this purpose.
The emergence of policies dealing with soil degradation is likely to increase the requirement for
soil quality assessment. Despite this, there remains an issue with soil protection policy, which has
not been implemented to the same extent as for water and air policy. To increase understanding of
these issues, this work evaluated soil quality, and the reservations which it faces. Findings reveal
the need for a method of assessment that is not soil function dependent, but uses a number of
cross-functional indicators. Examination of the policy drivers for water and air highlight the
importance of moving toward more holistic management and protection of soil. To help to address
challenges for soil protection policy, this work proposes a set of indicators that can be collected by
members of the public, and which can be used to direct further detailed soil quality assessment.
With the need for evidence based policy, and recognition that involving the public in
environmental monitoring is an effective way of increasing understanding and commitment, there
has been growing interest in public surveys. The development of a mass public soil survey, the
Open Air Laboratories (OPAL) Soil and Earthworm Survey, is presented as an example of public
participation in soil surveys. This approach can deliver improvements in the quality of the
evidence collected and provide effective public involvement in policymaking and implementation,
on top of direct educational benefits. Such data from the public have been analysed to provide
information about soils and earthworm distributions, and has indicated apparent differences in
earthworm abundance across England. Investigation of the reliability of patterns shows the
importance of following up apparent findings from public data with more detailed investigation.
Examination of patterns in public data provided important information on threats to soil, and has
allowed further examination of the main environmental drivers of earthworm distribution, as well
as distribution and fate of contaminants.
The work highlights the important role to be played by members of the public in the move toward
a holistic and harmonised protection of soil resources, with great value in public participation in
data collection, education and policy formation.