Soil is life. Soil is a massively undervalued resource. It is non-renewable. Our food, water and climate depend on it  All food is grown from soil directly or indirectly. Its’ a nature’s gift to the living beings. The whole eco-system depends upon soil for survival. The more you are rooted to the soil, better it is for the human beings.

Industrialization has taken us away from soil. Land has been reclaimed & factories are built on that. I am not against this but the natural imbalances have destructed our eco-system to the core. The mother earth is craving for its soil that has been taken away by humans.

Animals are part of eco-system & they keep checks & balances so that the cycle of life is continuous. Conservation & preservation of soil is all important in this century.

In the UAE only 13 percent of soil is fertile rest is all sand. Still, they have managed to place huge patches of landscaping. All this is watered by recycled sewerage water. Fresh water is not at all used. It implies that, where the resources are scarce they are valued the most.

Soil contains huge quantities of carbon in the form of organic matter. which provides nutrients for plant growth and improves soil fertility and water movement. 

The top metre of soil alone stores around 2,200 billion tonnes of carbon, which is three times the level currently held in the atmosphere, said the UNEP Year Book 2012. 

Soil carbon is easily lost but difficult to rebuild, the report said.

Soil carbon stocks are highly vulnerable to human activities. They decrease significantly (and often rapidly) in response to changes in land cover and land use such as deforestation, urban development and increased tillage, and as a result of unsustainable agricultural and forestry practices.

Such activities can break down soil’s organic matter. When this happens, some carbon is converted to carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that is one of the main contributors to global warming, and it is lost from the soil.

Around 24 percent of global land has already suffered from declines in health and productivity over the past quarter of a century due to unsustainable land use, UNEP said. 

Some 60 percent of carbon stored in soils and vegetation was lost as a result of land use changes, such as clearing land for agriculture and cities, since the 19th century. 

As global demand for food, water and energy is forecast to rise dramatically, soils will come under increasing pressure.

Without changing the way land is managed, over 20 percent of forests, peatlands and grasslands in developing countries alone could lose vital ecosystem services and biodiversity by 2030, the report said. [UNEP Year Book 2012.]

Thanks for reading.