SAVE MOTHER SOIL

Save Soil is a global campaign started by Sadh guru, an Indian spiritual teacher, to combat land degradation and promote Healthy Soil. The Isha Foundation presented the project on April 5 to the United Nations in Geneva, with backing from the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal Lab (UN SDG lab), and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). So know what is the harm caused to soil with statistics and how to conserve it 

Why is soil so important?

Soil health is fundamental to healthy food production. It provides essential nutrients, water, oxygen and support to the roots, all elements that favour the growth and development of plants for food production. The soil hosts a big community of diverse organisms that improve the structure of the soil, recycle essential nutrients, and help to control weeds, plant pests and diseases. Another important aspect is that when soil is healthy, it contributes to mitigating climate change by keeping or increasing soil organic carbon. Soil is the basis of food systems as well as the place where all plants for food production grow. For that reason, it is extremely important to preserve soils and to start a global cultural movement which returns to soils the primary importance that they deserve.

Soil Facts: Global Soil Status, Process, and Trends

Around 2 billion hectares of soil resources have been degraded worldwide, accounting for roughly 22% of all agriculture, pasture, forest, and woodland

It is estimated that 11.9–13.4 per cent of the worldwide agricultural supply has been lost due to soil deterioration during the last five decades

Around 10% to 20% of the world’s drylands and 24% of the world’s productive lands have been damaged worldwide

Water erosion costs the European Union 970 million tonnes of Soil per year, enough to cover an area twice the size of Belgium with a millimetre of dirt

The value of soil degradation is currently estimated to be around $490 billion per year, exceeding the expenditure allocated to avoid it. Approximately 40% of the world’s damaged land is found in poverty-stricken areas. An estimated 1.5 billion people are affected directly by land degradation (United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification

Fertile land and rich lands are essential non-renewable geo-resources. Erosion is responsible for losing 24 billion tonnes of fertile soil per year. Every year, each person on Earth loses 3.4 tonnes of fertile soil.

Over 4000 billion tonnes of carbon are stored in soils. Forests hold 360 billion tonnes of carbon as woody biomass, while the atmosphere holds almost 800 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide. That means the Soil has over ten times the amount of carbon as trees. If appropriately managed, soil can serve as a carbon sink to help combat climate change

This is the major soil status of various parts of the world so what are the contributing factors to it 

Solid waste

It includes all kinds of rubbish like paper, plastic containers, bottles, cans, food, used cars, broken electronic goods, municipal waste, and hospital waste.

Pesticides and Fertilizers

Many farming activities engage in the application of fertilizers, pesticides, and insecticides for higher crop yield which pollutes the land.

Deforestation

Humans depend on trees for many things including life. Trees absorb carbon dioxide from the air and release Oxygen, which is needed for life. Forest helps replenish soils and helps retain nutrients being washed away. Deforestation is led to land pollution.

Deforestation and soil erosion

Deforestation carried out to create drylands is one of the major concerns. Land that is once converted into the dry or barren land, can never be made fertile again, whatever the magnitude of measures to convert it.

Agricultural activities

With the growing human and pet animal population, the demand for food has increased considerably. Farmers often use highly toxic fertilizers and pesticides to get rid of insects, fungi, and bacteria from their crops. However, the overuse of these chemicals results in contamination and poisoning of land.

Mining activities

During extraction and mining activities, several land spaces are created beneath the surface.

Landfills

Each household produces tons of garbage each year due to changing economic lifestyle of the people. Garbage like plastic, paper, cloth, wood, and hospital waste gets accumulated. Items that cannot be recycled become a part of the landfills that cause land pollution.

Industrialization

Due to increasing consumerism more industries were developed which led to deforestation. Research and development paved the way for modern fertilizers and chemicals that were highly toxic and led to soil contamination.

Construction activities

Due to urbanization, a large number of construction activities are taking place. This has resulted in large waste articles like wood, metal, bricks, and plastic. These are dumped on the outskirts of urban areas that leading to land pollution.

Nuclear waste

The leftover radioactive materials and harmful and toxic chemicals affect human health. They are dumped beneath the earth to avoid any casualties.

Plastics

Plastic pollution is a great threat to plants, animals, and humans. Only a fraction of plastic is recycled and the rest ends up in the landfills. It takes 1000’s years to decompose and even after it’s the toxic substances spoil the soil and water.

Microbeads

Microbeads are solid plastic particles that size, less than one millimetre. They are mostly made of polyethene and other petrochemical plastics. It is used in personal care products, toothpaste, and health science research.

Many countries such as Canada, Ireland, Netherlands and United Kingdom etc banned the manufacturing of such products that contain microbeads.

EFFECTS OF SOIL POLLUTION 

Soil pollution

Soil pollution is another form of land pollution, where the upper layer of the soil is damaged. This is caused by the overuse of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. This leads to the loss of fertile land. Pesticides kill not only pests and also human beings.

Microplastics affect fauna and flora. The soil pollution due to microplastic hurts species. It reduces the species below the surface such as larvae, mites, worms, and other small creatures this biological cycle may get negatively affected.

Health Impact

The land when contaminated with toxic chemicals and pesticides leads to the problem of skin cancer and the human respiratory system. The toxic chemicals can reach our bodies through food and vegetables.

Landfills and waste dumping lead to air pollution. The abnormal toxic substances spread in the atmosphere cause transmit respiratory diseases among the masses.

Edfect on wildlife

The animal kingdom has suffered the most in the past decades. They face a serious threat of the loss of habitat and the natural environment. The constant human activity on land is leaving it polluted, forcing these species to move farther away. Sometimes several species are pushed to the verge of extinction or disappear due to no conducive environment.

SOIL POLLUTION WITHIN INDIA 

India’s 29% of the land was degraded as per the state environment report in India main reasons for degradation was 

OVER EXPLOITATION of the soil by mono-crop agriculture practices with excessive chemical fertilizers especially urea and  some pesticides and many other factors like overgrazing deforestation and poor irrigation practices 

MEASURES TAKEN TO PROTECT SOIL AT THE NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL LEVEL 

Like almost every country follows climate mitigating measures Sustainable development goal no: - 15.3 mandated that by 2030 combat desertification restore degraded land and soil including land affected by desertification drought and floods and strive to achieve a land degradation neutral world 

National level 

India became part of the "Bonn Challenge", India's pledge is one of the largest in Asia. Schemes such as the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, Soil Health Card Scheme, Soil Health Management Scheme and Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana are seen as prongs to tackle this land degradation.

International level 

UNCCD UNITED NATION CONVENTION ON COMBAT DESERTIFICATION Established in 1994, UNCCC is the sole legally binding environment convention that links development and the environment to sustainable land management. The UN Convention to Combat Desertification aims to combat desertification and the ill effects of drought. Executive Secretary Mr Ibrahim Thiaw, who moderated one of the Forum's sessions, expressed the convention's strong commitment to supporting countries in making the spirit of the communiqué a reality and shaping ambitious long-term goals on soil restoration 

The UNCCD Science-Policy Interface (SPI) consists of globally selected independent scientists, regionally nominated independent scientists, policymakers (CST bureau members) and observers. For every term of the SPI, the members are selected by the CST Bureau, following an open application process

These are the measures taken at the national and international level but there is no evidence to prove these measures are sufficient to conserve our soil hence soil is a mother  forever humans need  so  global citizens should take part into conserve soil govt also need to create more steps like engaging local govt bodies to conserve soil and healthy farming methods and to create awareness about scheme introduced by local and national govt to make policy sounded