Most Of The Earth’s Biodiversity Is In The Soil Beneath Our Feet. It Is Vital We Protect And Nourish Our Soils And Soil Biodiversity.
Table of Contents
Carbon Sequestration
Part of CO2 emissions can be absorbed by plants and returned to the soil thanks to decomposition by soil microbes. This leads to increased soil biodiversity.
Carbon sequestration could be a large part of the way in which we can mitigate climate change.
Soil Loss & Degradation
Deforestation, monoculture, the misuse of agrichemicals and combined sewer outfalls lead to biodiversity loss in the soil and our water systems.
Gardeners and allotment holders manage huge areas of soil and can help mitigate soil and biodiversity loss. We need healthy soils to enable us to grow healthy food, both now and in the future.
Soil is complex mass of living organisms, such as bacteria, fungi, worms and assorted invertebrates etc. to the extent some people say that soil itself is alive. We can keep our soil alive and protect soil biodiversity by cutting down on, or not using, synthetic chemicals in our cropped areas.
Worm compost can replace peat
Keeping crops growing in soils all year keeps it alive far more than “sheeting down for winter” and decreasing or stopping digging can increase yields. Both are vital for soil biodiversity.
Going Backwards Or Making Progress With Soil Biodiversity?
I know many people see cutting out peat, the poor quality of peat free composts, and not digging as going backwards. But after spending much of my life as a market gardener, horticultural lecturer and advisor to land based colleges I disagree.
Protecting our soils is vital …. as this short FAO video demonstrates.
