World Soil Day is celebrated annually on the 5th of December to focus on the importance of healthy soil. In 2002, an international day to celebrate the wonders of Soil was recommended by the Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS.) In 2013, the United Nations General Assembly declared the 5th of December 2014 as the first official World Soil Day.
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations has informally endorsed the World Soil Day. According to a survey by FAO 95% of our food comes from the soil. It further states that 815 million people are food insecure and 2 billion people are nutritionally insecure but this can be mitigated through the soil.
The FAO is also working towards proving soil can help meet the challenges of climate change as soil holds three times more carbon than the atmosphere.
Everyone’s number one priority for being eco friendly is to plant trees. But we sometimes fail to appreciate the reason for plants thriving. We forget about our silent ally laying low on the earths surface and the reason behind our food and livelihood.
It is said life would not be possible without water but it is the four elements that come together to form life, Wind, Water, Fire and Earth. Each one plays an important role but the soil plays a greater role than we realize.
Reasons to acknowledge and appreciate the brown substance on the surface:
1. Life would not be possible without soil: United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon said without healthy soil, “life on Earth would be unsustainable.” Healthy soil with water, air and the sun come together to form the essential parts of the ecosystem.
The soil is home to a number of creatures and holds minerals and even purifies water. Scientists have revealed that soil makes up for one of the world’s largest reservoirs of biodiversity. It has also been proved that soil holds one third of all the planet’s life. Just a teaspoon of soil contains billions of microbes.
2. The soil is the Second Largest Caborn Repository on the planet: As soil contains organic matter it makes for the largest source of organic carbon. It is a vessel for around 75% of the carbon available on land. The soil has a natural tendency to store carbon and is useful for mitigation and adapting to climate change.
The Ecological Society of America said, “Carbon can remain stored in soils for millennia, or be quickly released back into the atmosphere. Climatic conditions, natural vegetation, soil texture, and drainage all affect the amount and length of time carbon is stored.”
3. The soil is the best natural water purifier: The world’s supply of clean water is due to the coil. When water flows in concrete it takes all the pollutants and fills up the ocean but soil, on the other hand, purifies it. In a natural filtering process with the help of microorganisms the soil filters the water and sends a clean batch of water to its main source.
4. There would be no food without soil: Soil is the reason we have healthy meals every day. Plants that depend on soil to flourish in return offer 95% of the world’s food. Even the meat we eat would not exist as the cattle feed on the grass grown from soil.
5. Soil gives us medicines: The billions of microorganisms living in the soil are used to make medicines. Most of the antibiotics sold to cure infections come from the soil. Cyclosporine is a drug to help transplant patients from rejecting the new organ and it exists only because of healthy soil.
The soil is at its best when it has living growing from it and water flowing over it with the air around it. Today being the day to appreciate soil let’s pick up that shovel and plant a few seeds in an empty patch of land. Let every day be soil day because without soil there would be no life.
