Opinion: Reinforce the value of our soils
One annual celebration you might be forgiven for not knowing about is World Soil Day. Sadly, our ignorance about the importance of soil and the degree to which we take advantage of it has led to a drastic reduction in its quality and productivity the world over.
Leonard Da Vinci once said, “We know more about the movement of celestial bodies than about the soil underfoot.” David Hillel, a prominent soil scientist, said so commonplace and seemingly abundant are soils that we tend to treat them contemptuously. Terms such as “dirt,” and “muddled” show our disdain. But in denigrating and degrading these precious resources, we do our environment and ourselves great and perhaps irreparable harm Hillel said.
Soil is one of the significant parts of the ecosystem, contributing to our food, water and energy and playing an important part in climate change. World Soil Day is designed to highlight these points and is aimed to inform more people than just scientists concerned about soil and natural resources.
Dec. 5 was World Soil Day, declared by the United Nations General Assembly. The years of 2015 to 2024 are declared the International Decade of Soils.
The theme of World Soil Day 2016 was “Soils and Pulses, a Symbiosis for Life.” All these days and years that are named after soil not only celebrate this precious resource, but also remind the world about its importance and the impact soil has on the well-being of all the living organisms on planet Earth.
Soils and land resources are key components for the fight against poverty, food insecurity and climate change. Soil and land degradation poses a great challenge for a sustainable development.
World Soil Day and the International Decade of Soils should be observed as a reminder that there is a clear and urgent reason for us to be concerned about the quality of soil and the impact it has on the other resources (i.e., our coral reefs), if soil is not protected. We must consider the well-being of the soil and take steps to preserve it and prevent it from being washed off the land into the ocean, smothering precious corals.
Educating the public about the impact that soils have on other natural resources (such as) water and air is one of the most important endeavors of our times, for this and the other islands of Micronesia. World Soil Day and the International Decade of Soils are great opportunities for us to reinforce the value of these precious natural resources that our (we) and many organisms depend on.
Murukesan Krishnapillai is the Cooperative Research and Extension specialist at the College of Micronesia-FSM, Yap Campus. Mohammad Golabi is a professor of soil and environmental sciences at the College of Natural and Applied Sciences at the University of Guam.