World Soil Day
05 Dec 2013
5 December every year. Highlighting the importance of soil and the need to use it sustainably.
For the International Union of Soil Scientists, World Soil Day "celebrates the importance of soil as a critical component of the natural system and as a vital contributor to the human commonwealth through its contribution to food, water and energy security and as a mitigator of biodiversity loss and climate change". To further raise awareness, the FAO's Global Soil Partnership has declared the year 2015 as UN International Year of Soils.
The following film clip briefly outliines the importance of soil and the threats to this limited resource:
Another useful clip is this animation: Let's Talk About Soil, which explores further the global threats to soil, including the issue of land-grabs, and what can be done to resolve them.
The following teaching resources could help you explore soil-related issues in class:
- British Society of Soil Science: Education Downloads
- Oxfam Education: Explore Land Grabs
- Soil Association: Primary resources and Secondary resources
- Soil-Net.com
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