FAO marks World Soil Day 2025, underlines rising soil sealing across Asia and the Pacific

5 December 2025- Bangkok, Thailand: Healthy soils are emerging as a critical challenge for the rapidly growing cities of Asia and the Pacific, where climate pressures, shrinking green spaces, and rising pollution increasingly reflect the deteriorating condition of the soils beneath them.  

Urban agriculture grown on well-managed soils produces up to 10 percent of global vegetables, legumes, and tubers, supporting food security, nutrition, and livelihoods. Exposure to biodiverse soils, even in urban parks, helps strengthen immune development, particularly in children. 

Cities generate about 70 percent of global municipal waste, much of it organic. When safely processed into compost, biochar, or other forms of biowaste, these materials can return nutrients to soil, expand green spaces, and enhance cities’ climate resilience. These nature-based solutions underscore why soil health must become a core element of urban planning and management.  

This year’s World Soil Day 2025, observed under the theme “Healthy Soils for Healthy Cities,” calls for stronger action to protect and restore soils as urban population grow in Asia and the Pacific region toward a projected 3.5 billion by 2050. The observance carries special significance as it coincides with FAO’s 80th anniversary, eight decades of partnership, and innovation for better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life, leaving no one behind. 

Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, FAO Special Goodwill Ambassador for Asia and the Pacific, presided over the ceremony at Thailand’s Land Development Department (LDD) in Bangkok. In her remarks, Her Royal Highness emphasized that “Cities depend on living soils to regulate temperature, absorb water, support biodiversity, improve air quality, and strengthen resilience to climate change”. Her Royal Highness called for expanding green spaces, restoring sealed land, improving water infiltration through sustainable construction, and reducing soil contamination. 

In his opening remarks, Alue Dohong, FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific noted that “Across Asia and the Pacific, urbanization is rapidly covering agricultural land, weakening food systems, ecosystems and reducing cities’ resilience to climate change. It is also destroying habitats and threatening the region’s rich biodiversity”. He added that “Healthy soils provide the foundation of resilient food systems, healthier people, and greener cities, in both rural landscapes and urban environments”.  

Honoring the legacy of King Bhumibol and Queen Sirikit, The Queen Mother 

On behalf of FAO, Alue Dohong honored the legacy of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand, whose leadership inspired the creation of World Soil Day. He also expressed condolences on the passing of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit, The Queen Mother, recalling that FAO awarded her the Ceres Medal in 1979 for her lifelong dedication to improving lives, particularly in rural areas. The medal’s inscription, “to give without discrimination,” reflects her enduring contribution to sustainable development in Thailand and beyond. 

Glinka Prize and King Bhumibol Award  

FAO announced this year’s winners of its prestigious international soil prizes. The Glinka World Soil Prize 2025 was awarded to Professor Ganlin Zhang of the Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, in recognition of his contributions to sustainable soil management and soil information systems. The King Bhumibol World Soil Day Award was presented to the French Association for Soil Studies for mobilizing thousands of citizens, schools, and institutions across France to raise awareness of soil protection. The awards are supported by the Russian Federation and the Kingdom of Thailand, respectively. 

A call to action 

FAO urges countries to make better use of knowledge, technology, and innovation for sustainable land-use planning, soil restoration, and the recovery of sealed urban soils, a priority highlighted at FAO’s 2025 Global Symposium on Soil Sealing and Urban Soils. To support this effort, the upcoming 2025 Asia and the Pacific Handbook for Soil Health Assessment and Monitoring will offer standardized methods and indicators to help governments assess soil conditions and inform evidence-based decisions. 

By strengthening dialogue between researchers and policymakers, embedding soil health into urban planning and infrastructure development, and investing in soil health monitoring systems, countries can transform urban soils into assets that support biodiversity, expand urban agriculture, and enhance community well-being. 

FAO’s flagship reports, including the State of Land and Water Resources (SOLAW 2025) and the State of Food and Agriculture (SOFA 2025),reinforce these priorities, emphasizing that restoring and safeguarding soils, land, and water is central to resilient agrifood systems and to meeting the needs of a growing global population.