Can we balance the high costs of nature restoration with the method of topsoil removal? Case study from Poland

Abstract Topsoil removal is an effective, but also expensive method of nature restoration on fens and fen meadows. The high cost is a factor limiting the application of this method, especially in Central European countries, where investments in nature restoration are low. Can we partly balance the high costs of restoration with the method of topsoil removal, by utilising the degraded soil? We explore and roughly assess the benefits from re-using the removed soil. The cost limitation lies mainly in the transport. This is due to the difficulties of moving the soil within the project site and the often high costs of transporting and storing soil out of the site. The soil substrate can be utilised in forestry or horticulture, but is of rather poor quality, compared to commercially sold garden soil. In general, the respondents were not willing to pay for the substrate, pay much less than the price of commercial soil or they were not directly interested in using it. The assessment of possible gains in our case study indicated that, even if the soil is utilised in some way, the high costs cannot be fully balanced.