Soil is brown gold in the Emilia-Romagna region, Italy

- We estimated the value of the productive soil lost in the Emilia-Romagna Plain, Italy.
- The value of the land use changes for the period 2003-2008 at regional scale was 109 euros.
- The agricultural soil losses mean a vanished food security of 440,000 people equivalent per year.
- Local land use change produces massive environmental and economical consequences at wider scale.