Soil Care Network Newsletter
June 2023
by Nicola Wynn, Jamie Nix, Clement Boyer, Charlotte Chivers, Michiel van de Pavert, and Anna Krzywoszynska
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Soil Research
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New study revealed that pesticides residues were found in 98% of french soils, including untreated areas such as organic fields, forests, grasslands, and brownfields
In a recent paper, Baveye and colleagues provide a graphical visualization that shows the differences between soil carbon storage and sequestration
No net land take is a key objective for EU’s soil protection. How to achieve this without worsening living conditions within cities? This paper studied a range of cities in Europe to show the practical challenges of reaching this ambiguous objective, and proposes more comprehensive indicators
What do farmers think constitutes sustainable soil management? A large survey of UK farmers shows that farmers’ understanding and practices are highly varied; the paper also proposes a method for measuring progress towards regenerative agriculture
A new study published in Restoration Ecology shows ecoacoustics can provide an effective way of monitoring biodiversity above and below ground
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Soil Actors
The Pedometrics network, interested in the application of mathematical and statistical methods for the study of the distribution and genesis of soils, has released its 47th newsletter
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The soil knowledge library (KLIB) a web-based application for the compilation and classification of scientific publications on soil process research
European Union Soil Observatory released is annual bulletin - reporting on 2022 activities and highlighting future developments to be expected
The French Economic, Social and Environmental Council adopted a notice of 18 recommendations to foster the integration of soil ecological functions in land policy
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European Soil Mission released a Mission Soil Manifesto to be signed either by a legal entity or an individual willing to recognize the need to protect and restore soil, to recognize the importance of the Soil Mission and to contribute to soil preservation in any sector or territory
Solid Science - Carlos Guerra and Romy Zeiss started a new podcast series “about science and people with a certain focus on soils”
Have you ever run activities communicating soil science with young people? The project SOILdarity is looking for contributors to their survey to help them understand challenges & develop best practices
New episode of BBC podcast Costing the Earth explores the soil microbiome. Gillian Burke asks how to get more people to understand and care about the trillions of organisms that exist beneath our feet, and what are the consequences of doing nothing?
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Soil Tools
Soil health benchmarks for managed and semi-natural landscapes have been developed by CEH. This is the first benchmarking tool that considers the health of soils within the wider semi-natural landscape of grasslands, woodlands and wetlands, as well as agriculture across Great Britain. Access the benchmarking tool here
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You can watch the popular 2018 documentary ‘The Living Soil’ created by the Soil Health Institute for free on their website
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In this report, the Ecological Institute estimated that the EU Framework was not sufficient to ensure high quality removals and meet “QU.A.L.ITY” criteria (Quantification, Additionality, Long-term storage, Sustainability)
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Soil Events
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Fertile Furrows: Ruling and (Re-)Working Soil in Early Modern Period is a two-day virtual conference from the Warburg Institute, University of London (27- 28 June 2023, 2:00PM - 6:30PM). Free to attend
Registration is open for The European Healthy Soils Conference, 1st Edition: Soil Fertility, which will be hosted by the School of Life Sciences at the FHNW Campus Muttenz. (13 - 15 Sept 2023, Muttenz, Switzerland)
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