Agricultural soil and freshwater ecosystem services in Slovakia – opportunities and challenges for their practical application

Anotace: Water and soil belong to natural resources which are essential for the existence and development of human civilization. Ecosystem services (ESS) which provide bring different benefits to people. In Slovakia, mapping and valuation of ecosystem services of agricultural soil and freshwater, driven by development in soil functions concept and later by nature and biodiversity protection, have been focused especially on provisioning and regulation & maintenance sections. The integration of ESS concept into decision making remains challenging issue both in area of soil and water policy as well as creation of new and useful information on the total and sustainable capacity of individual ecosystem services in space and time.Concerning the quality of the existing ESS-related information, the immediate use of ESS concept in the land area can be seen at spatial planning to decrease the irreversible soil loses which occur during urban sprawl, industry and infrastructure development. In the area of freshwater, the valuation of related ESS can be considered at the selection of cost-effective measures provided that the assessment of the ESS will be specified for the conditions of a particular water body and/or related watershed. To achieve unambiguous and lasting improvement of environment and related ecosystem services, which clearly includes the sustainable use of agricultural soils and freshwaters, it is necessary to address deeper causes, closely related to human thinking and activities which are not punishable/solvable solely by the ESS concept.