Soil isn’t sexy but we need to dig in and help conserve it Create an account

Dirty fight

Francesca Yorke/Getty

By Molly Scott Cato

Soil, earth, mud, dirt; whatever word you choose, it is difficult to think of a less glamorous topic to campaign on.

But a campaign is now vital. Soil is critical to much of our food. It also safeguards biodiversity, as a habitat for below-ground __life that includes many thousands of types of microbe, containing more species in number and quantity than all other surface biota put together.

Here in Europe, most countries lack laws dedicated to safeguarding this vital layer. In the absence of policies and national regulations that guarantee adequate protection, it is down to EU citizens to put our downtrodden, neglected soils back on the agenda. Which is why a European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) has been launched – a democratic tool by which citizens can push the European Commission (EC) to draw up protections.

The demand for action was launched in Italy at Terra Madre, a global food event. To be considered, the ECI must get the support of at least one million adult EU citizens from at least seven different member states within 12 months. People4Soil has been set up to achieve this. With Brexit probably years away, those in the UK can join this fight and may yet benefit from it.

Soil is under threat from intensive agriculture, the use of wide-spectrum herbicides, urbanisation, erosion and contamination. And while technically renewable, the slow rate of soil formation makes it practically irreplaceable.

This is a pressing issue. Water erodes 970 million tonnes of soil every year in the EU, according to the EC’s Joint Research Centre. This is the equivalent of losing a ...