The Save Soil movement releases Policy Handbooks for 7 Global Regions at an International Roundtable of Leading Soil Experts on World Soil Day
The Save Soil movement hosted a digital roundtable on World Soil Day to collectively discuss the most urgent questions around revitalizing soil through policy. Save Soil announced that it had released policy handbooks tailored for each region (Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and Caribbean, Middle East and North Africa, North America, and Oceania) and individual sustainable soil management solution catalogues for 193 nations.
The country-specific solution catalogues have catalogued sustainable soil management solutions for countries taking into account the differing soil types, the various agro-climatic zones, and the local agrarian traditions. The handbooks are available via the Conscious Planet website (consciousplanet.org).
155 experts from 31 countries worldwide listened to 9 renowned soil scientists speak and the Save Soil movement founder, Sadhguru, speak.
“Soil is the foundation of human wellbeing on this planet. […] Soil is where our food begins. We must urgently change how we care for our land.” – Ibrahim Thiaw, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, spoke at the roundtable.
“I encourage each of you listening today to engage firstly at the community level, where the real results occur, and secondly, I encourage you to engage at a policy level. Can you advocate within your capacity or within your group advocate for enabling policy environments which encourage farmers and communities to protect and restore the tree cover and through that restore the quality of the soil.“
– Tony Rinaudo, agronomist (‘The Forest Maker’)
“We must shift from a management that is merely using the soil to a management that has the soil as a main focus. For that, the society needs to have a better knowledge of what soils are and what they do.” –
Prof. Rosa Maria Poch – Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils, FAO
Soil degradation negatively impacts 3.2 billion people around the world. (UNCCD, 2019)
- Worldwide, 52% of agricultural land is affected by land and soil degradation (ELD Initiative, 2015)
- 60-70% of soils in Europe are in unhealthy condition. (European Commission, 2022)
The expert speakers (named below) focussed on a two-point agenda:
- How to ensure that soil and agricultural policies have as their primary outcome the improvement of soil health by increasing soil organic matter.
- How to support and incentivize farmers in improving the soil.
A consolidated report of the Round Table discussions will be published early next year to present to various government bodies working on soil policies, hoping that it will support soil policies in multiple countries.
The Round Table was the backdrop of a phenomenal upsurge in global interest in soil on the back of the Save Soil Movement initiated by Sadhguru earlier this year. Sadhguru did a completely unprecedented lone motorcycle journey spanning 100 days, covering 27 countries across 30,000 long kilometres to mobilise and shape global citizen awareness. The incredible viral response to that effort from social media and mass media ensured that the message reached 3.91 billion people.
The speakers:
- Dr Muralee Thummarukudy (Director of the G20 Global Initiative at UNCCD)
- Dr Claire Chenu (research director at INRAE – the French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment. She is a member of the Scientific and Technical Committee of the 4 per 1000 initiative and coordinates the European Joint Programme SOIL.)
- Dr Ahmed H. El-Naggar (Soil Management Scientist at the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture)
- Dr Lydie-Stella Koutika (Soil scientist in the Republic of Congo and a member of the Scientific and Technical Committee of the ‘4 per 1000’ Initiative)
- Prof Rosa Maria Poch (Chair of Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils, FAO)
- Dr Paul Luu (Executive Secretary of the “4 per 1000 Initiative”)
- Dr Alisher Mirzabaev (Chair of the Production Economics Group at the University of Bonn)
- Gabe Brown (Farmer/Rancher from Bismarck, North Dakota, Partner with Understanding Ag and an instructor with Soil Health Academy)
Quotes:
1. Dr Muralee Thummarukudy – Director G20 Global Land Initiative Coordination office, UNCCD
– “It is critical we ensure a safe, stable and healthy foundation, soil.It is like having a good canvas on which you can build beautiful landscapes and paintings”