World Soil Day 2020: Keeping soil alive, protecting soil biodiversity

This year’s edition of World Soil Day’s theme is “Keep soil alive, protect soil biodiversity” and it seeks to raise awareness on the importance of sustaining healthy ecosystems and human well-being by addressing the increasing challenges of soil biodiversity loss and raising the profile of healthy soil.

This was revealed via a release issued and made available to Food Farm News by the registrar and chief executive of Nigerian Institute of Soil Science Prof. V. O. Chude, in Abuja.

According to the release, this should be achieved by encouraging governments, organisations, communities, and individuals around the world to engage in proactively improving soil health to build friendly ecosystem. 

The release further noted: “It is expected that all Institutions affiliated with the Soil Science profession engage in activities such as meetings with farmers on soil biodiversity loss, soil clean up within and around our environments, soil science lab experiment/open day demonstration on soil biodiversity loss, field visits, symposiums, seminars, road walks and so on, before and on the 5th of December, 2020. The commemoration event has been scheduled for Nigerian National Merit House No. 22, J. T. Aguiyi Ironsi Street,  Maitama District – Abuja on December  5,2020.”

It should be recalled that in 2002, the International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS) made a resolution proposing the 5th of December to be World Soil Day in order to celebrate the importance of soil as a critical component of the natural system and as a vital contributor to human well-being. The day also seeks to raise awareness about the enormous role soil plays in the achievement of food security as well as provides an excellent opportunity to engage the general public and target governments, education and academic sectors, farmers, the private sector, and the civil society in general.