Senwes Scenario Augustus / September 2015 | Page 58
•••
NUUS
THE WORLD IS CURRENTLY CELEBRATING THE
INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF SOIL. 2015 WAS OFFICIALLY DECLARED AS THE
INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF SOIL BY THE 68TH UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY.
I
n short the Food and Agriculture Organisation of
the United Nations has been
nominated to implement the IYS
2015 within the framework of
the Global Soil Partnership and
in collaboration with governments and the secretariat of the
United Nations Convention to
Combat Desertification.
So what is the International
Year of Soil all about?
The International Year of Soil
aims basically to raise awareness
in 2015 of the importance of soil
for food security and the ecosystem itself, which comprises of all
plants and animals in an area.
The importance of soil in a
nutshell:
Soil is made up of organic remains such as clay and rock
particles that are found on the
earth’s surface. We need soil to
produce food, clothes and to
build homes. Soil also has the
ability to store and filter water,
recycle nutrients and create a
barrier against floods.
SOIL IS DISAPPEARING
The area of fertile soil covering
the world’s surface is limited.
Deforestation, bad agricultural practices and pollution
can cause soil degradation and
erosion. Soil is also trapped
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underground when cities keep
growing in size and more buildings are erected.
WHAT ARE THE SPECIFIC
OBJECTIVES OF THE IYS
2015?
• The objective is to raise full
awareness among civil society
and decision-makers about
the profound importance of
soil for human life;
• Furthermore, to educate the
public about the crucial role
soil plays in food security,
climate change adaptation
and mitigation, essential
ecosystem services, poverty
alleviation and sustainable
development;
• To support effective policies
and actions for the sustainable
management and protection
of soil resources;
• To promote investment in
sustainable soil management
activities to develop and
maintain healthy soil for different land users and population groups;
• To strengthen initiatives relating to the Sustainable Development Goals process and
Post-2015 agenda;
• To advocate for rapid capacity
enhancement for soil information collection and monitoring at all levels (global,
regional and national).
Augustus/September 2015 • SENWES Scenario
WHY DOES AGRICULTURE
NEED TO SUPPORT IYS?
Soil supports agriculture. Soil
serves as the foundation on
which we grow our food. The
mere fact remains that everything in our diets comes directly
or indirectly from soil.
A few quotes to sum up the
whole issue:
The reason for the International
Year of Soil can be found in one
paragraph of The Nature and
Properties of Soil. Here it states:
“The commonplace features of
nature are often not well understood or appreciated. For many
of us, soil is such a feature. It
can be found almost everywhere
and has seemingly always been
with us. Because of this, the majority of us have never taken the
trouble to find out what soil is,
where it comes from and what its
properties are. We may not have
observed how different soil is in
one place compared to another.
Certainly few of us know the
reasons for the differences.
George Monbiot, a columnist
for The Guardian, states that:
“Soil is an almost magical substance, a living system that transforms the materials it encounters,
making them available to plants.”
So the real question is: Are
you going to support the International Year of Soil?