Soil is dying. Across the world, 52% of agricultural soil is already degraded. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation says we may have only 60 years of agriculture left if soil degradation continues. A global food crisis would become inevitable as a consequence.
Save Soil is a global response to this crisis. This is, first and foremost, a people’s movement which aims to inspire at least 4 billion people (60% of the world’s population) to support long-term changes to national governments policies to revitalise soil.
World Soil Day is on Monday, 5 December, and we are marking it in a big way in Bristol.
To inspire the people of Bristol, we are hosting an uplifting Save Soil Winter Fair to learn about soil with speakers, music and art on Saturday, 3 December at the Create Centre. It’s all free: the food, the parking, the workshops, to make it accessible and inclusive to all. Everyone is welcome.
It’s part of our national cycle for soil. Our cyclists are cycling 900 miles in major cities in the UK to highlight the vital nature of soil. We will greet them in Bristol at Saturday’s event.
Why soil when there are other pressing issues?
95% of our food comes from soil and we are losing one acre of soil every second! With the world’s population growing so rapidly, we will soon be facing a food crisis unless we act now.
Soil is the world’s third largest carbon sink and is at the heart of food systems, global biodiversity and climate change. Soil has other significance acting as drought and flood resistant sponges.
So, the solutions for many of the issues we are facing today; climate emergency, ecological emergency, flooding and droughts and food security are found in soils.
Who are we in Bristol?
We are the people of Bristol who have been inspired to take action. We’re students, a retired teacher, engineers, an artist, a doctor, a lawyer, a postman and so on. We have pulled together to raise awareness and make stuff happen.
We are part of a global movement that has been described as the world’s largest People’s movement. The movement is supported by people and organisations from around the world.
- United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (UN FAO)
- United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)
- World Food Programme (WFP)
- United Nations Environment Programme, Faith for Earth Initiative
- The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
- The International “4 per 1000” Initiative
- The Vatican
- Muslim World League
Find out more about our global organisation from this video:
Why are we doing this?
We have been directly working on creating healthy soils for 30 years and our environmental projects have been recognised globally. Guyana have pledged 100 km² to the implementation of save soil policy. 11 Caricom countries and 56 Commonwealth countries are adopting these measures.
Because of the urgency we need to change at a national governmental level, with an enabling policy environment that supports farmers to implement sustainable land management practices to achieve food security, climate resilience, and carbon sequestration. But governments and policy makers will only change if we ask them to. Which is why we are trying to raise awareness with as many people as possible. Hence the dance, the mural, and the fair.
How can you join us?
Please Join us on the 3 December with your friends and family! Please also share the event: Save Soil Winter Fair Tickets, Sat 3 Dec 2022 at 13:00 | Eventbrite
Talk about the importance of soil with as many people as possible. Online please use the hashtag #SaveSoil #ConsciousPlanet
Go to https://consciousplanet.org/ to find out more and get involved.