Date
27 Jul 2022
Soil health is critical to address the climate crisis, say researchers.
Around the world, from cities and rangelands to farmland and wilderness, 20–40% of the planet’s land area is degraded and humans are the main catalysts.
According to Leigh Ann Winowiecki, leader of CIFOR-ICRAF’s Soils research group and a soil systems scientist, soil is critically important for climate-change mitigation and adaptation, ecosystem restoration, food and nutrition, and security.
‘It’s literally and physically central to our existence,’ argues Winowiecki. ‘We all have a responsibility to restore soil health, let’s work collectively to scale soil health globally.”
The Global Land Outlook explains that land restoration has multiple benefits that reverse past land and ecosystem degradation while creating opportunities that improve livelihoods and prepare us for future challenges. Moreover, land restoration is a proven and cost-effective solution to help reverse climate change and loss of biodiversity. Soil plays a central role in climate-change adaptation and mitigation; it has the potential to store twice as much carbon as other terrestrial and atmospheric pools.
World Agroforestry (ICRAF) is a centre of scientific and development excellence that harnesses the benefits of trees for people and the environment. Knowledge produced by ICRAF enables governments, development agencies and farmers to utilize the power of trees to make farming and livelihoods more environmentally, socially and economically sustainable at multiple scales. ICRAF is one of the 15 members of the CGIAR, a global research partnership for a food-secure future. We thank all donors who support research in development through their contributions to the CGIAR Fund.