Plants nurture a whole world of creatures in the soil, that in return feed and protect the plants. This diverse community of living organisms keeps the soil healthy and fertile. This vast world constitutes soil biodiversity and determines the main biogeochemical processes that make life possible on Earth.
This year, by addressing the increasing challenges of soil management, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) campaign “Keep soil alive, protect soil biodiversity” aims to raise awareness of the importance of sustaining healthy ecosystems and human well-being. By encouraging people around the world to engage in proactively improving soil health, the campaign also aims to fight soil biodiversity loss. If we do not act soon, the fertility of soil will continue to be adversely affected at an alarming rate, threatening global food supplies and food safety.
Encouraging all people to participate, FAO has created a thematic website full of information, initiatives and material to spread the message through different multimedia platforms.
Learn more about World Soil Day (WSD), held annually on 5 December, here: https://www.un.org/en/observances/world-soil-day