ROOM TO GROW:
While most techniques for protecting and restoring soils were well known at the time of the previous report in 2015, they were not widely implemented
More than half of the world’s soils are in poor condition, threatening global food supplies and biodiversity, while proven measures to improve soil health are not being implemented, a UN report released yesterday said.“Globally, we must shift from a mindset of soil exploitation to one of soil stewardship,” the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said.Soils “support 95 percent of our food production, host 59 percent of global biodiversity and serve as the planet’s second-largest carbon sink after the oceans,” the report’s authors said.
Students collect soil samples to study the pollution of soils and plants from the industrial wasteland of the U4 blast furnace in Uckange, France, on May 21.
Yet “soil degradation continues to accelerate at an alarming rate.”The report found that in 52.5 percent of regions and subregions soil management was poor or very poor. In one-third, it was fair, while in only 14 percent was it good or very good.
