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Agricultural and environmental policies are being fundamentally reviewed and redesigned in the UK following its exit from the European Union. The UK government and the Devolved Administrations recognise that current land use is not sustainable and that there is now an unprecedented opportunity to define a better land strategy that responds fully to the interconnected challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss and sustainable development. This paper presents evidence from three pathways (current trends, sustainable medium ambition, and sustainable high ambition) to mid-century that were co-created with UK policymakers. The pathways were applied to a national integrated food and land-use model (the FABLE calculator) to explore potential synergies and trade-offs between achieving multiple sustainability targets under limited land availability and constraints to balance food supply and demand at national and global levels. Results show that under the Current Trends pathway all unprotected open natural land would be converted to urban, agriculture and afforested land, with the consequence that from 2030 onwards tree planting targets could not be met. In contrast, the two sustainable pathways illustrate how dietary change, agricultural productivity improvements and waste reduction can free up land for nature recovery and carbon sequestration. This enables a transition to a sustainable food and land-use system that provides a net carbon sink with up to 44% of land able to support biodiversity conservation. We highlight key trade-offs and synergies, which are important to consider for designing and implementing emerging national policies. These include the strong dependence of climate, food and biodiversity targets on dietary shifts, sustainable improvements in agricultural productivity, improved land-use design for protecting and restoring nature, and rapid reductions in food loss and waste. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the European Union (EU-27) and UK, animal farming generated annually more than 1.4 billion tonnes of manure during the period 2016–2019. Of this, more than 90% is directly re-applied to soils as organic fertiliser. Manure promotes plant growth, provides nutritious food to soil organisms, adds genetic and functional diversity to soils and improves the chemical and physical soil properties. However, it can also cause pollution by introducing toxic elements (i.e., heavy metals, antibiotics, pathogens) and contribute to nutrient losses. Soil organisms play an essential role in manure transformation into the soil and the degradation of any potential toxic constitutes; however, manure management practices often neglect soil biodiversity. In this review, we explored the impact of manure from farmed animals on soil biodiversity by considering factors that determine the effects of manure and vice versa. By evaluating manure's potential to enhance soil biodiversity, but also its environmental risks, we assessed current and future EU policy and legislations with the ultimate aim of providing recommendations that can enable a more sustainable management of farm manures. This review explored the relationship between manure and soil biodiversity by considering 407 published papers and relevant legislative provisions. In addition, we evaluated whether benefits and risks on soil biodiversity are considered in manure management. Thereafter, we analysed the current legislation in the European Union relevant to manure, an important driver for its treatment, application and storage. This review found that coupling manure management with soil biodiversity can mitigate present and future environmental risks. Our analyses showed that manure quality is more important to soil biodiversity than manure quantity and therefore, agricultural practices that protect and promote soil biodiversity with the application of appropriate, high-quality manure or biostimulant preparations based on manure, could accelerate the move towards more sustainable food production systems. Soil biodiversity needs to be appropriately factored in when assessing manure amendments to provide better guidelines on the use of manure and to reduce costs and environmental risks. However, radical changes in current philosophies and practices are needed so that soil biodiversity can be enhanced by manure management. Manure quality in the EU requires greater attention, calling for more targeted policies. Our proposed approach could be applied by European Union Member States to include soil protection measures in national legislation, and at the EU level, can enable the implementation of strategic goals. [Display omitted] • More than 1.4 billion t y−1 of manure are generated in the EU and UK and re-applied to soils with potential harmful effects. • Current European regulations on manure disposal are scattered across different legislations and ignore soil biodiversity. • This review of 407 documents revealed that manure quality is more important to soil biodiversity than manure quantity. • To promote soil biodiversity by manure amendments, a radical transformation in the way agriculture is conducted is needed. • This approach could reinforce EU MS' commitment to protect soils and improve future agricultural policies at the EU level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]