World Soil Day- December 5th.
Soil is the heart and soul of our planet. We can’t live without it.
It sustains us, captures carbon, provides a home for billions of organisms and can help defend us against flooding and drought, but too often we’re taught to think of it as dirt!
As a result, many of the world’s soils are now in crisis – degraded and eroding, often as a result of intensive farming practices. The good news is that by changing the way we farm and eat, we can help protect our soils, for generations to come.
This World Soil Day, let the world know how important soil is. Become a Soil Saviour, and share how important soil is for us and our planet.
* More info here
Why are soils important?
Soil is our life support system. Soils provide anchorage for roots, hold water and nutrients. Soils are home to myriad micro-organisms that fix nitrogen and decompose organic matter, and armies of microscopic animals as well as earthworms and termites. We build on soil as well as with it and in it.
Soil plays a vital role in the Earth’s ecosystem. Without soil human life would be very difficult. Soil provides plants with foothold for their roots and holds the necessary nutrients for plants to grow; it filters the rainwater and regulates the discharge of excess rainwater, preventing flooding; it is capable of storing large amounts of organic carbon; it buffers against pollutants, thus protecting groundwater quality; it provides Man with some essential construction and manufacturing materials, we build our houses with bricks made from clay, we drink coffee from a cup that is essentially backed soil (clay); it also presents a record of past environmental conditions.
Soil functions are general capabilities of soils that are important for various agricultural, environmental, nature protection, landscape architecture and urban applications. Six key soil functions are:
- Food and other biomass production
- Environmental Interaction: storage, filtering, and transformation
- Biological habitat and gene pool
- Source of raw materials
- Physical and cultural heritage
- Platform for man-made structures: buildings, highways ( source https://www.isric.org )
