Once again we celebrate World Soil Day (December 5th), which was established in the FAO Conference on June 2013 and approved unanimously.

And it has like aim to celebrate the importance of soil as a critical component of the natural system and as a vital contributor to human well-being and as a non-renewable resource.

Its importance is such that an article published in 2016 by “The Irish Time“It was commented that the word “soil “was too small for the importance that this element in the environment is so important. Because Soil preservation is essential for food security and our sustainable future.

The promotion of the biodiversity of our soils is a key element of the cultivation systems for their improvement that are being tested as part of the project CONSOLE, an EU-funded research project that attempts to assess and improve contractual relationships between the administration and farmers. 

What is soil

World Soil Day seeks to raise awareness about the importance of soil, as a vital component of the ecosystem, and raise awareness of the problems that affect it (e.g., erosion and pollution). 

This day aims to promote the sustainable management of soil resources in order to guarantee healthy ecosystems. Encourage people to help preserve the world’s food supply and food security by improving soil health and preventing loss of soil biodiversity.

The role of soil in climate change

It is well known that carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions are causing changes in our climate and, in turn, adverse effects such as increased temperatures, reduced rainfall, loss of biodiversity, etc. 

Soils rich in organic matter They have the ability to capture this atmospheric CO2 through photosynthesis in the plants they support, storing it in the form of stable organic matter.

5 keys to avoid degradationion of our soils

1. By 2050 will miss the 10% in crop productivity;
2. More than 80% of degradation of soils occur in the Sub-Saharan Africa;
3. If nothing is done, within three decades, the estimated losses in crop yield will be equivalent to removing 1.5 million km2 of cultivated areas (the size of India, approximately);
4. The formation of two or three centimetres of soil can take 1,000 years,
5. Every five seconds the equivalent of one football field.

Thursday 2 December 2021 10:00 am-12:30 pm
on Microsoft Teams

The EU project CONSOLE aims to investigate and further develop novel contractual solutions for environment, nature and climate protection in agriculture. The main objective of the training entitled “The CONSOLE project, innovative contractual solutions & the new CAP” is to inform about selected new contract solutions based on the results of the CONSOLE research project, as well as to report about activities of the Community of Practice (CoP) and to provide some insights into the green architecture of the CAP 2023- 2027.
During this training event you will hear about examples of contractual solutions, their function, strengths and potential weaknesses. The focus will be put on the result-based payments, collective implementation/cooperation, land lease and supply chain approaches targeting the delivery of environmental benefits in view of facilitating their uptake. The aim is to enable participation to voluntary measures that foster the provision of public goods by agriculture and increase capacity to design and implement such measures giving particular attention to participants without expertise in this topic yet. Moreover, we will highlight contractual solutions for carbon sequestration in agricultural soils. In addition, we will address the new CAP with eco-schemes as novel instrument and the multi-annual voluntary schemes for climate and the environment. This training will be an opportunity to exchange ideas and problems of the fruit and vegetable sector and to foster the dissemination of solutions by strengthening the collaboration.
This free event is addressed to producer associations, farmers, cooperatives, professional organisations, regions and other stakeholders related to the agri-food sector.

Europe is running out of soil by polluting it, accelerating its erosion and sealing it off through construction (among other negative activities). Between 60 and 70% of the continent’s soils are degraded, as the European Environment Agency has warned and the European Commission has just admitted when publishing its Soil Strategy (Soil strategy for 2030).

In previous publications we have shared the importance of the soil to safeguard it for the enjoyment of future generations, but until now there was no direct community legislation that it had this objective; which in turn is part of the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030.

The importance of soils

Soils are highly valuable elements in ecosystems, as they provide food, energy, raw materials, sequester carbon, purify water, regulate nutrients, control pests, etc.

It is therefore a necessity to protect them, trying to achieve the following secondary objectives: [1], protect soil fertility; [2], reduce erosion and sealing; [3], increase the content of organic matter; [4], determine the contaminated land; [5], restore degraded soils; [6], define what is understood by “good ecological status” of soils.

As the sixth and final IPCC report made clear, this is all due to human causes. In the case of erosion, perhaps the action of degradation of soils more, agriculture has been the main trigger for its appearance.

Agricultural lands account for 80% of the surface with severe or moderate erosion: 35 million hectares affected, 17.8% of the European arable soils. The areas with the most irregular relief and slopes are the most prone to suffer this degradation.

Urbanism, and therefore the sealing of the soil, is other causes main factors of the degradation of European soils (construction of houses, services and recreational areas, transport networks, infrastructures, quarries, mines and landfills).

Looking for a political framework

The European Environment Agency concluded that the Lack of a comprehensive and coherent political framework to protect land and soil is a key gap that reduces the effectiveness of existing incentives and measures and may limit Europe’s ability to achieve future goals: A new policy framework is needed that the old one can no longer take on the 2006 EU soil strategy..

And to achieve the proposed objectives (highlighted in paragraph 1 of this post), you must:

• Promote the adoption of sustainable soil management practices;
• Establish actions to restore degraded soils and ensure sufficient EU funding;
• Improve soil quality monitoring;
• Adapt and improve the relevant EU policy framework in line with the objectives of the European Green Deal on climate neutrality, zero pollution, sustainable food systems and resilient ecosystems;
• Develop knowledge and research
• Accelerate the transition to sustainable soil management and behavior change for all;
• Lead the EU’s global action on land within the framework of the Rio Conventions, the EU’s external action and cooperation to the developing.

And to achieve this, the European Commission will develop a strategy based on substantial knowledge of soils both in the European Union and abroad.