World Soil Day

05 Dec 2013

For the International Union of Soil Scientists, World Soil Day"celebrates the importance of soil as a critical component of the natural system and as a vital contributor to the human commonwealth through its contribution to food, water and energy security and as a mitigator of biodiversity loss and climate change". To further raise awareness, the FAO's Global Soil Partnership has declared the year 2015 as UN International Year of Soils.

 Soil is a finite natural resource. On a human time-scale it is non-renewable. However, despite the essential role that soil plays for human livelihoods, worldwide there is increasing degradation of soil resources.  Recognizing the importance of soils, the International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS), in 2002, made a resolution proposing the 5^th of December as World Soil Day. This day is aimed to celebrate the importance of soil as a critical component of the natural system and as a vital contributor to the human wellbeing. 
Under the leadership of the kingdom of Thailand and within the framework of the "Global Soil Partnership", FAO has supported the formal establishment of a global awareness raising platform such as the World Soil Day. The FAO Conference in June 2013 unanimously endorsed World Soil Day and requested the 68^th UNGA to have it officially adopted. In this context, FAO has decided to organize this event on 5^th December 2013. 
 This event will take place on 5 December from 13:00 – 14:30 at the Sheik Zayed Centre in FAO, Rome, Italy.