Join #WorldSoilDay to learn more sustainable soil management and how it is linked to protecting biodiversity, creating healthy eco systems and carbon capture.

Climate and Biodiversity

• Soil is likely home to 59% of the species on Earth
• Water scarcity leads to the loss of soil biodiversity, while leaching and eutrophication from agriculture practices lead to the loss of biodiversity in water bodies.
• The mismanagement of pesticides and fertilizers not only threatens soil and water quality but also poses significant risks to human health and ecosystems.​-Soil and water conservation contribute to climate change mitigation and adaptation.
• Improved soil and water management improves the land's capacity to withstand extreme climate events such as droughts, floods and sand/dust storms.​
• Integrated soil and water management practices provide essential ecosystem services, supporting life on earth and enhancing ecosystem resilience.
• Healthy soils act as a carbon sink, by sequestering carbon from the atmosphere, thus contributing to both climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts.
• Scotland's soils are a giant carbon store, holding more than 3,000 megatonnes of carbon (of which 53% is held in deep peatland soils), which is 60 times the amount of carbon held in our trees and plants, therefore making soils our main terrestrial store of carbon.