Apart from the natural processes of soil formation and soil degradation/erosion, human activities are fostering soil erosion and degradation. Thus, the differentiation between erosion and soil erosion is important, especially for management purposes:

• Erosion: Under natural conditions erosion causes a levelling of relief.

• Soil erosion: Due to man‘s activities the natural erosion gets enforced, now called soil erosion.

(Figure: B. Schütt)