New study aims to explore soil quality in Scotland

A new study has been launched in Scotland which aims to ascertain how high-quality compost can be used to improve soil quality.

Led by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) in association with the Forestry Commission and the Scottish Agricultural College, trials involving compost will explore its possible uses and applications.

WRAP hopes that the studies will lead the way for the development of the quality compost market in the UK, as well as help better define best practice and policy in the country.

The trials will run from 2009 through to 2012 and will explore the improvement of soil quality, woodland and biomass crops.

Michael Wall, spokesman for the Forestry Commission, stated: "Transforming a completed opencast site back into woodland and helping to reduce CO2 in the atmosphere makes a lot of sense."

The Forestry Commission is the government department appointed with the responsibility of protecting Britain's wooded areas and ensuring they flourish in the future.