World Soil Day: Healthy soils, sustainable living: the unbreakable connection with nature

Soils provide vital ecosystem services for humanity and biodiversity. Healthy soil acts as a carbon sink and retains water (one cubic meter of soil can hold more than 250 liters of water), while also enabling the production of 95% of the food we consume.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has established December 5 as a day of activities and cooperation to raise awareness of the relationship between soil and life, its importance for the survival of the planet and its symbiotic link with water, both irreplaceable and necessary for life on Earth.  

Today, we understand that the climate crisis has a multidimensional effect on life and ecosystems, and soil is not exempt from these effects. Soil quality is affected in various ways, such as drying and erosion due to increased temperatures, which reduce its fertility and water retention capacity, thereby affecting its moisture content and ability to support agriculture. Additionally, soil contamination and loss of biodiversity occur with the increase in extreme weather events combined with human action. There is also a reduction in arable land for these same reasons, which can lead to a food crisis. Moreover, the hydrological imbalance caused by all these effects, along with their impact on clean water and air, cannot be overlooked.

For these reasons, it is crucial to emphasize the protection and sustainable management of soils. Various organizations organize events to mark this day, and this year, the FAO has chosen "Soil and Water: Source of Life" as the theme for World Soil Day, when the report on the Global Assessment of salt-affected soils will be launched.

The Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI) has provided research funding for projects with relevance to soil conservation and was also one of the funding agencies for a Belmont Forum collaborative research call on the sustainability of soil and groundwater.

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