Why Save Soil

Why Save Soil?

Our generation has a lot to be concerned about when it comes to our future on this planet.

Millions of people are going hungry. Many more are not getting enough nutrition from their food. Animals are losing their habitats. Bird and insect species are disappearing. The climate is changing. Floods and droughts are bringing tragedy and loss.

It’s pretty overwhelming isn’t it? But there is something we can do about all this.

A solution to all these problems is right under our feet but we need to act fast. It’s time to talk about soil.

Healthy soil is the basis of our very lives: it provides our sustenance and our shelter.


How often do we think about it?

Healthy soil is home to billions of life forms. It supports the biodiversity of our planet.


But how much do we know about it?

Healthy soil stores water. It protects us from flooding and droughts.


Are we taking care of it?

Healthy soil sequesters carbon. It’s part of the solution to climate change.


Are we even talking about it?

Our soil is not healthy!

All over the world, our soil is becoming less and less able to sustain life. It is losing its ability to store water and store carbon. It is being washed away, poisoned and turned into desert.

We must raise our voices about soil!

One acre of soil is becoming desert every second.

– UNCCD


The nutritional content of our fruits and vegetables has dropped by as much as 90% in the last century.

– USDA and others

We have only 60 years of soil left.

– UN Food & Agriculture Organisation

820 million people go to bed hungry.

– UN, 2019

52% of world’s agricultural soils are already degraded.

– ELD Initiative and UN Food & Agriculture Organisation

If soil extinction is not prevented, food production will fall by 40% by 2045

– World Economic Forum

By 2050, 90% of the Earth’s soil could be degraded unless we act now.

– UNCCD, 2020

We can turn this around

We know how to make our soil healthy. Healthy soil must be continually shaded by plant cover and nourished by organic content from plant and animal waste. Many innovative farmers are already benefiting from this solution. They are increasing the organic content and the biodiversity on their land. Healthy soil must have at least 3-6% organic content.

This needs to happen everywhere.

How can we help

We may not be farmers, politicians or government officials, but we do have a voice.

We can use our voices and creative minds to make sure that everyone understands the importance of healthy soil. We can create art, write poetry, make music or put on a play to raise awareness. If enough of us speak up about soil, our governments will recognize that they have their citizens’ support to create lasting policies that will ensure the health of our soil for generations to come.

Join us in a global celebration of the soil that nourishes our lives – in an acknowledgement of its importance, and in a cry for its protection.

Let us make it happen.

Downloads

A Soil Water Retention and Erosion Experiment to see which kinds of soil store water best.

A Save Soil Exhibition Flyer to invite others to join.

A How to Participate Flyer to explain to schools how to take part.

A Save Soil Exhibition Flyer for Children to invite young children and their parents to join.

See also

All About Soil

Farmers’ View

Introductory Videos

Creative Themes

Lesson Resources

Anapaula Rocha

When I joined the Save Soil movement I saw the possibility to reconnect with my first memory about soil. I was about 7 years old and my teacher asked us to monitor the growth of a bean and look after that tiny piece of life. This first experience never lost its sense of magic and mystery for me. How was it possible for a seed to transform itself into a plant on a piece of cotton wool and then grow enough to continue living in soil? I recalled transplanting it into the soil and still now remember the smell of that soil too.

As a parent I had revived the experiment, watching my children growing their own beans at school. 

As a child photographer, there were many times when I had witnessed children connect deeply with the wonder of forests. We sat on the ground to deepen their experience.

My involvement with Save Soil has brought the opportunity to engage once again with the bean project. I had the pleasure of repeating the experiment and photographing it in detail as well as contacting two families and engaging with their children about soil.

The children were of different ages and showed a good range of familiarity with the soil; some were more involved than others. After listening to their own experiences I shared the idea of recreating the bean project. They will monitor the experiment using their creative skills and we will reconnect in the middle of the project.

I believe that connection with soil is an essential component in raising awareness about the soil itself and its depletion. By conducting the same experiment, and inviting the children to engage with their creativity, it will certainly create an opportunity for conversation with their own families and friends about soil - sharing how the soil needs our attention and care just now.

Roxana Păun

My first presentation was about ”What is the soil?” The children in my class have already studied about the layers of the earth: Barysphere, Hydrosphere and Lithosphere. Soil is part of the Lithosphere, the outermost part of it. Then we start talking about the composition of the soil: what it contains as non-living matter and the life inside the soil: microbes, fungi, bacteria, worms, insects, and other animals. We also discussed what is the role of the soil, how it contributes to the other living beings on Earth, and the importance it has for the survival of life on our planet.

The children were so excited about all the information, and they contributed with their own knowledge and ideas. They connected so many areas of the economical system to farming, and discovered that actually everything comes from soil. We have performed experiments, and the children wrote various projects on soil. We are planning to continue with the study of soil in the next two months.

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As a parent I had revived the experiment, watching my children growing their own beans at school. 

As a child photographer, there were many times when I had witnessed children connect deeply with the wonder of forests. We sat on the ground to deepen their experience.

My involvement with Save Soil has brought the opportunity to engage once again with the bean project. I had the pleasure of repeating the experiment and photographing it in detail as well as contacting two families and engaging with their children about soil.

The children were of different ages and showed a good range of familiarity with the soil; some were more involved than others. After listening to their own experiences I shared the idea of recreating the bean project. They will monitor the experiment using their creative skills and we will reconnect in the middle of the project.

I believe that connection with soil is an essential component in raising awareness about the soil itself and its depletion. By conducting the same experiment, and inviting the children to engage with their creativity, it will certainly create an opportunity for conversation with their own families and friends about soil - sharing how the soil needs our attention and care just now.