WWF finds Austria failing to protect its soil

Austria’s soil policy shows a “clear failure”, according to the 2026 WWF Soil Report, ORF reported. Salzburg ranked highest among the federal states with a score of 3.1 on a five-point scale, but was still classified as having shortcomings.

No federal state received a rating of “exemplary” or “solid”. Lower Austria, Styria and Burgenland were also rated as having shortcomings, while Carinthia and Upper Austria were classified as “critical”. None of Austria’s federal states has a binding, numerical target for reducing soil consumption.

The WWF described the findings as a structural problem in spatial planning. “Valuable soils continue to be built on and sealed despite record heat, while effective limits are largely absent,” said Simon Pories, the WWF’s soil protection spokesperson.

Soil consumption per person varies widely between the federal states. Burgenland recorded the highest figure at 1,251 square metres per person, twice the Austrian average of 618 square metres. Large and several eastern states use particularly large amounts of land per person, while pressure on limited permanent settlement areas is increasing in Alpine states and Vienna.

About half of the land consumed is sealed, the report said. Buildings, roads and parking spaces can cover land with a layer that is largely impermeable to water and air. Burgenland, Lower Austria and Carinthia also ranked among the states with the highest levels of sealing per person.

Salzburg leads but still has shortcomings

The WWF credited Salzburg with extensive spatial planning goals and specific criteria for compact construction in housing subsidies. However, it criticised exceptions and unclear rules in many other areas, saying the protection of farmland and natural areas could often be circumvented.

Lower Austria followed closely with a score of 3.2. The WWF praised its regional spatial planning programmes, settlement boundaries and agricultural priority areas as fundamentally important protection tools. However, Lower Austria had the highest total soil consumption of all the federal states, averaging 1.9 hectares per day. Its per-person consumption was 952 square metres, second only to Burgenland.

Upper Austria ranks last

Upper Austria ranked last with a score of 4.2. Apart from general goals and individual measures in housing subsidies, the WWF rated all examined areas of action as either “critical” or “inadequate”. It raised particular concerns about policies covering industrial zones, computing and logistics centres, tourism projects and road construction.

Carinthia ranked second to last with a score of 4.0. Six of the 11 areas examined were rated “inadequate”. The WWF said the state had established neither overarching settlement boundaries nor binding priority zones for agriculture and nature. It also identified a positive measure in the redesignation of unsuitable excess building land.

Vienna ranked ahead of Carinthia with a score of 3.9. The city state has a special position because it is Austria’s smallest federal state by area. The WWF criticised the Vienna Plan for containing many goals and measures without legal force. It also said building regulations contained few specific soil protection requirements and lacked settlement boundaries and overarching legal protection for valuable agricultural and green spaces.

The WWF called on Austria’s federal and state governments to adopt binding numerical soil protection targets, set clear limits for new industrial areas and roads, strengthen town centres and better protect undeveloped land. It said vacant buildings and already developed areas should be used before new land is sealed, while farmland, green spaces and valuable natural areas should be protected.

The VCÖ transport organisation said mobility could become significantly more efficient, reducing land consumption by transport. It called for protection against further construction of roads and parking spaces, more unsealing and greening, and more shade-providing trees along roads. It also said large car parks should increasingly be unsealed.