Sarah Garry British Society of Soil Science
Soils underpin our ecosystems, our climate and human culture. Some of the biggest issues affecting our world and its inhabitants have soil at their heart.
Healthy soil supports biodiversity: biodiverse soils can host millions of organisms in each teaspoon. Sustaining life in soil is essential to ensure soil health, which supports our ability to grow food and farm effectively. When managed well, soil can store significant amounts of rainfall, preventing flooding and dirty run-off which can affect the health and safety of communities.
To fully appreciate and understand the natural world, we all need a better understanding of the vital services soils deliver. Soil is much more than dirt and our ultimate survival depends on healthy soils producing sustainable yields, maintaining and, where possible, enhancing soils to prevent degradation, which can lead to devastating impacts for communities throughout the world.
Grounded
Our new video #Grounded highlights the importance of soil and aims to increase knowledge of soil’s importance, particularly amongst young people. The four-minute video available on our website includes BBC wildlife presenter Lizzie Daly, alongside Riverford Organics and a soil scientist, to encourage young people in particular to understand the links between soil, their food and bio-diversity1. Our website lists three tangible things which can be done to protect local soil:
- Remove patio slabs and crazy paving to help soils absorb water in heavy rainfall. This will slow the flow into drains, and particularly help to prevent flash floods, which will be crucial in cities as climate change leads to increased intense rainfall.
- Plant cover crops instead of leaving soil bare. Cover crops or ‘green manure’ are popular with allotment holders and farmers, and add carbon and nutrients to the soil naturally, reducing the need for artificial fertilisers.
- Don’t use peat-based compost as the intensive mining of peat bogs has a detrimental impact on the climate and local ecosystems. If you have the space, start your own compost heap, rather than buying compost or disposing of your food and
garden waste in your green-waste bin.
Primary and secondary resources
We have a range of resources available on our website to support teachers and educators in delivering soil science education2. Our website includes a range of downloadable posters which feature fascinating facts to engage young people. Did you know that one teaspoon of healthy soil holds more creatures than there are people on the whole Earth?! The amazing facts in the posters will support the teaching of soils across the primary and secondary curriculum.
Worms and other creatures are crucial for keeping soils in good condition. If you are looking for practical activities to undertake, our Great Worm Hunt3 is suitable for primary and secondary children across key stages and the fun activity could be adapted to combine maths, English, geography and science.
To support the delivery of soil science education, we offer our Field Equipment and Innovation Grants4 which are open to applications from primary, secondary and tertiary education institutions in the UK. Up to £1,000 is available to support innovative ways to include soil teaching in lessons or to purchase equipment to aid the understanding of soil science.
Resources for adults and professionals
We deliver monthly webinars, Zoom into Soil, one-hour sessions which are freely available to all. These webinars are delivered by academics in conjunction with those implementing the science practically to provide a holistic overview of science’s use in practice. Our sessions have included erosion, no-till farming and the functions of soil, including in forensic science. These sessions, along with content from our member conferences are available via our YouTube channel5.
Our two scientific journals6, The European Journal of Soil Science and Soil Use and Management publish the latest international research in soil-related topics, presenting diverse research on topics including carbon dioxide emissions, soil degradation and organic matter.
Outreach activities
For a number of years we have supported Open Farm Sunday, attending farms across the country to highlight the importance of soil to a diverse range of visitors. Although this year we won’t be attending in person due to Covid-19 we will be highlighting soil’s importance in agriculture via Twitter7.
Understanding soil
There is a growing appetite amongst non-soil scientists to understand how soil ‘fits in’ to the problems affecting our natural world. This has included the Netflix documentary featuring Woody Harrelson, Kiss the Ground, which introduced the ‘no-till’ method to a generation of young people who are passionate about halting climate-change and living more sustainable lives. The method, which focuses on reducing the amount of disturbance to the soil, is attributed to increasing yields and efficiencies, increasing soil health and reducing the amount of CO2 released into the atmosphere.
The popular TED Talks series features a number of short talks on soil and National Geographic have published several articles on soil’s importance.
On a personal level we all use soil, whether we realise it or not, on a daily basis. Whether it’s the food we eat, playing football on a school playing field, enjoying the local park gardens or gardening for pleasure.
Soil degradation has a huge impact on our personal lives and disrupts our understanding of the environment, even in urban areas. However, as soil begins to gain recognition as an important factor in understanding biodiversity, climate change and our interactions with others, it is important to note that there is no requirement to deliver teaching in soils at primary level. Soil teaching in England is delivered in the context of other subjects and at GCSE level. Only the Scottish Environmental Science and CCEA Agricultural and Land Use qualifications offer specific teaching on soil.
With 1,500 gigatonnes of carbon in the world’s soil, three times more than in vegetation and forests, educating our young people to understand its importance, particularly in the fight against climate change, must be a priority.
References
1. British Society of Soil Science (BSSS) video ’Grounded’ soils.org.uk/grounded
2. BSSS teaching resources soils.org.uk/education/downloads
3. BSSS ’Great Worm Hunt’ activities soils.org.uk/education/the-great-worm-hunt
4. Details of how to apply for the BSSS Field Equipment and Innovation grants soils.org.uk/grants-awards
5. BSSS YouTube channel youtube.com/user/BritishSocietyofSoil
6. BSSS journals soils.org.uk/education/publications
7. BSSS Twitter twitter.com/soil_science
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Sarah Garry is Executive Officer of the British Society of Soil Science (BSSS), an international membership organisation and charity committed to the study of soil in its widest aspects.
Contact: admin@soils.org.uk
More information: soils.org.uk
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This article was first published in Summer 2021 in Vol 127 of the NAEE journal which is available free to members.