Soil Erosion Control at the Interface of Processes, Management, and Policy: Lessons from Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the European Union

Soil erosion represents a major threat to soil health, water resources, food security, and ecosystem resilience, particularly in regions exposed to increasing climatic extremes and long-standing pressures from unsustainable land use. In Southeast Europe, intensified rainfall events, land degradation, and inadequate spatial planning have amplified erosion processes and related hazards, such as torrential floods, highlighting the need for more integrated and adaptive approaches to soil conservation.

This study examines soil erosion and conservation from a comparative and integrative perspective, focusing on Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina and situating both within the broader European Union policy and governance framework. Soil erosion is addressed not only as a biophysical process, but as a systemic challenge arising from interactions between natural processes, land management practices, institutional arrangements, and policy implementation.

In Serbia, soil erosion and torrential processes have long been recognized as major environmental challenges, particularly in hilly and mountainous catchments. The country has a strong tradition of erosion control and torrent regulation based primarily on technical and biotechnical measures implemented at the local scale. National assessments indicate that approximately 86% of Serbia’s territory is potentially exposed to water erosion, ranging from very weak to severe intensities, reflecting pronounced geomorphological diversity. Despite extensive technical expertise, soil conservation remains weakly integrated with spatial planning, ecosystem-based approaches, and socio-economic valuation of soil functions and ecosystem services, resulting in predominantly sectoral and engineering-oriented interventions.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, erosion-prone catchments are shaped by steep terrain, erodible soils, increasing climate variability, and fragmented institutional responsibilities. National erosion mapping shows that areas affected by excessive, intensive, and medium erosion account for approximately 15.7% of the territory, while 84.3% is characterized by slight to very slight erosion, largely associated with forested areas, karst landscapes, and lowland agricultural plains. Management responses are largely reactive, focused on post-event measures following extreme rainfall and torrential floods, with limited long-term effectiveness due to weak catchment-scale coordination and insufficient integration with land-use planning.

The European Union provides an important reference framework through the Water Framework Directive, the Floods Directive, and the EU Soil Strategy, which promote integrated, catchment-based management and the wider use of nature-based solutions. However, implementation in candidate and neighboring countries remains uneven, constrained by institutional capacity, financial resources, and governance complexity.

By comparing national experiences with EU policy principles, this study identifies persistent gaps between scientific knowledge, management practice, and policy implementation. It argues for a shift from fragmented, sectoral approaches toward integrated strategies linking process-based understanding, sustainable land management, nature-based solutions, and coherent governance. In this context, soil erosion control emerges as a key pathway for advancing Sustainable Development Goal 15 (Life on Land; aligned with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, 2015–2030), while simultaneously contributing to disaster risk reduction, climate adaptation, and ecosystem resilience in Southeast Europe.