WSD 2018 in the media
UN News
UN agriculture chief urges ‘transformative changes’ to how we eat
The Council’s 160th session began on Monday in Rome and runs until the 7th. It includes various side events that highlight the UN agency’s work, including Wednesday’s World Soil Day 2018, to advocate for the sustainable management of soil resources.
Photo: ©World Bank/Curt Carnemark
Read the full article: here
UN News
Soil pollution 'jeopardizing'life on Earth, UN agency warns on World Soil Day
Soil is a "treasure beneath our feet," essential to human lives and well-being, a senior United Nations officials has highlighted, warning, however, that this invaluable resource is under constant threat from the little-understood phenomenon of soil pollution.
Photo: ©FAO/Hkun Lat
Read the full article: here
FAO press release
Increased soil contamination puts food safety and food security at risk
FAO marks World Soil Day with call for urgent action to reduce release of pollutants into soils. Urgent action is needed to address soil pollution and contain the multiple threats it poses to global food safety and food security, said FAO today marking World Soil Day.
Photo: ©FAO/FAO Guatemala Country Team
Read the full article: here
FAO press release
Russia's PhosAgro donates $1.2 million to improve sustainable soil management in Africa, Latin America and the Near East
FAO project aims to enhance farmers' skills in assessing soil conditions and strenghten capacities of national soil laboratories. PhosAgro, ussia's leading phosphate-based fertiliser producer, today signed an agreement with FAO to donate...
Photo: ©FAO
Read the full article: here
FAO web story
Polluting our soils is polluting our future
#StopSoilPollution: 6 reasons why soil pollution should not go unnoticed. Soil is a finite resource, meaning its loss and degradation is not recoverable within a human lifespan. Soils affect the food we eat, the water we drink, the air we breathe, our health and the health of all organisms on the planet.
Photo: ©FAO
Read the full article: here
UN Environment
What's the big deal about dirt?
World Soil Day on 5 December reminds us why healthy soils is vital, how pollution affects it and what can be done. Did you know that a handful of soil can contain millions of bacteria and fungi as well as tiny insects and strange microscopic animals like tardigrades?
Photo: ©Neil Palmer/CIAT
Read the full article: here
UN Environment
Tackling the growing challenge of soil pollution
Soils are the foundation of our food system, and the basis for many of the ecological processes on which we depend. The conservation and sustainable management of soils is essential to our goals of eliminating food insecurity and tackling climate change, while at the same time maintaining the resilience of ecological processes that support life on land.
Photo: ©CIAT
Read the full article: here
UNCCD
Thailand celebrates World Soil Day
The World Soil Day (WSD) celebration was held on 5 December 2018 under the theme "Be the Solution to Soil Pollution."Over 800 participants gathered for the event jointly organized by the Ministry of Africulture and Cooperative Land Development Department, Soil and Fertilizer Society of Thailand and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
Photo: ©UNCCD/ Vova Pomortzeff
Read the full article: here
IAEA web story
World Soil Day: How can nuclear techniques be the solution to soil pollution and increased productivity?
Pollution in soil can be invisible to the naked eye, but it can affect our food and water resources and even the air we breathe. One of those hidden contaminants is often fertilizer. When it comes to fertilizer, balance is critical: with the right amount at the right time, crops can flourish to help feed the world's growing population...
Photo: ©FAO
Read the full article: here
The Guardian
Can we ditch intensive farming - and still feed the world?
From urban farming to drones, innovation can help fill the gap between production and consumption. Why do we need to grow more food? Food production around the world must rise by half in the next 30 years to sustain a global population expected to top 10 billion by 2050.
Photo: ©The Guardian
Read the full article: here
The New York Times
The City's buried treasure isn't under the dirt. It is the dirt
Construction sites used to send New York's dirt to landfills upstate. But new research suggests the soil - if you dig deep enough - is a valuable commodity. The topsoil of New York City is famously toxic. But underneath that is some of the richest soil on the continent, dating to the ice age.
Photo: ©New York Times/ Vincent Tullo
Read the full article: here
Sidney Morning Herald
The secret to gardening success? It's all in the soil
Erica Watson and Hayden Druce's farm in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales features in the book from the Earth.
Photo: courtesy of Sidney Morning Herald
Read the full article: here
The Economist
The known unknowns of plastic pollution
So far, it seems less bad than other kinds of pollution (about which less fuss is made). Mr. Mcguire had just one word for young Benjamine, in "The Graduate": plastics. It was 1967, and chemical engineers had spent the previous decade devising cheap ways to splice different hydrocarbon molecules from petroleum into strands that could be moulded into anything from drinks bottles to Barbie dolls.
Photo: courtesy of the Economist
Read the full article: here
El País
¡Atención, mire al suelo!
Preocupa la contaminación del aire o del mar pero la de los suelos es un asunto marginado en la agenda medioambiental pese a su relación directa con la alimentación y la salud humanas.
Photo: courtesy of El País/ Eddie Kopp
Read the full article: here
China Daily
Chinese lawmakers weigh new law on soil pollution
Chinese lawmakers on Monday began reviewing a draft law on soil pollution prevention and control, as the country has escalated its fight against pollution.
Photo: not available
Read the full article: here
The Times of India
Importance of soil protection stressed on World Soil Day
Around 77,500 soil quality cards have been distributed so far distributed against the target of 1,37,564 cards that was set for Madurai district this year, said collector S Natarajan.
Photo: not available
Read the full article: here
Xinhuanet
FAO director calls for producing soil toxin-free fertilizers
A FAO official called for innovative ways to produce fertilizers that do not contaminate soil with toxins or heavy metals. Healthy soils are critical to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the goals of ending poverty, zero hunger, ensuring clean water, preserving biodiversity, said Carla Mucavi, director of FAO Liaison Office in New York.
Photo: not available
Read the full article: here
Reuters
Cleaning up polluted soil is 'humanity's next great challenge'
From Senegalese children killed by lead poisoning to Bengalis dying from arsenic in drinking water, experts called on Wednesday for a new global accord to address emerging health risks posed by millions of contaminated sites.
Photo: not available
Read the full article: here
List of articles: here | Multimedia resources