Background The Croatian National Environment Strategy and National Environment Action Plan, as well as the 6th Environmental Action Programme of the European Community and the Soil Thematic Strategy, stress the need to monitor state, pressure and response indicators of soils as a base for the development of strategies and soil protection programmes. At present, a systematic measurement of soil parameters does not exist for Croatia. No standard forms or norms to ensure compatibility of methods and data exist at the national level. The data that exists was collected for unrelated purposes and in different formats. Objectives The Soil Monitoring project aimed to (i) create national standards and methods for a soil monitoring programme, harmonised with EU requirements; (ii) identify locations for nationwide soil monitoring plots, (iii) identify potential reference centres for gathering and analysing data, and (iv) develop proposals for financing the construction of a soil monitoring system. The project would test the proposed methods in a pilot project. In the long term, the Soil Monitoring Programme would be part of a Soil Information System of Croatia (SISC), which again would be part of the Croatian Environment Information System (EIS). Results The Soil Monitoring project was implemented in line with the proposal and results were very satisfactory overall. A GIS database was established with basic information on the situation of different types of soil (forests, agriculture and contaminated soils). The Croatian Environment Agency will continue to promote the results and will recommend the adoption of the Rulebook on Soil Monitoring of which the Soil Monitoring Programme will be an integral part. A survey of potential institutions for the implementation of the Soil Monitoring Programme identified 19 institutions that are available in Croatia for field soil quality and laboratory soil analysis. A business plan for a soil monitoring system was drawn up, including a list of potential data-users (government departments, academic institutions, etc.) and sites to be monitored, as well as the costs of monitoring each type of soil (agricultural and forestry soils and contaminated sites). The cost calculation was based upon soil monitoring standardised data collated by the project for a Soil Monitoring Manual, which was published in January 2007 (300 printed copies and 300 CDs). A pilot project was set up to monitor the effects on different soil types on three crops: winter barley, winter wheat and oil seed rape. Croatia's Institute for Soil in Osijek was contracted to monitor six plots containing agricultural soils in the counties of Sisak and Moslavina; the Faculty of Forestry at the University of Zagreb monitored forestry soils at one site in Lonjsko Polje; the project partner monitored a site contaminated with oil from oil wells and leaky pipelines in Struzec. The pilot project ran from 2006-2008 and fed into both the Soil Monitoring Manual and a GIS database, which was established with basic information on the situation of the three soil types. Contracts to set up monitoring stations for the full-scale soil monitoring programme were agreed with three organisations: the Institute for Soil will monitor agricultural soils using 10 monitoring stations and 90 monitoring points; the Faculty of Forestry at the University of Zagreb will monitor forestry soils; and the Croatian Centre for Cleaner Production (CCCP) will monitor 247 points on contaminated sites. Results of the LIFE project were presented at the Soil Degradation conference in Riga, Latvia in February 2009. The same month a soil implementation meeting was hosted by the Croatian Environment Agency, with the participation of relevant ministries and other institutions. The meeting was very important to discuss the next steps for the implementation of the soil monitoring programme in Croatia. As of the end of the project, no funds had been made available for implementation. It is further proposed that a Soil Information System of Croatia (SISC) be established using all monitoring data (including georeferenced information). The creation of a database on Croatian soil and its implementation in an integrated environmental monitoring system has helped decision-makers to protect the natural resources of the Republic of Croatia. Testing of soil parameters will help to identify the areas of high-risk areas that present those threats specified in the proposal for a Soil Framework Directive (COM(2006) 232). Considering that the Republic of Croatia is in the adjustment phase of aligning its’ legislation with that of the European Union, the next steps to be taken are the creation of a soil monitoring programme and the adoption of . a Regulation on Soil Monitoring. Further information on the project can be found in the project's layman report (see "Read more" section).