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The International Year of Soils, 2015 (IYS 2015) was declared by the
Sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly The Sixty-eighth Session of the United Nations General Assembly opened on 17 September 2013. The President of the United Nations General Assembly was chosen from the GRULAC with Antigua and Barbuda's John William Ashe being the consensus candid ...
on December 20, 2013, after recognizing December 5 as World Soil Day. The purpose of the IYS was to raise
awareness Awareness is the state of being conscious of something. More specifically, it is the ability to directly know and perceive, to feel, or to be cognizant of events. Another definition describes it as a state wherein a subject is aware of some inform ...
worldwide of the importance of
soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, liquids, and organisms that together support life. Some scientific definitions distinguish ''dirt'' from ''soil'' by restricting the former te ...
s for
food security Food security speaks to the availability of food in a country (or geography) and the ability of individuals within that country (geography) to access, afford, and source adequate foodstuffs. According to the United Nations' Committee on World F ...
, agriculture, as well as in
mitigation of climate change Climate change mitigation is action to limit climate change by reducing emissions of greenhouse gases or removing those gases from the atmosphere. The recent rise in global average temperature is mostly caused by emissions from fossil fuels bur ...
,
poverty alleviation Poverty reduction, poverty relief, or poverty alleviation, is a set of measures, both economic and humanitarian, that are intended to permanently lift people out of poverty. Measures, like those promoted by Henry George in his economics clas ...
, and
sustainable development Sustainable development is an organizing principle for meeting human development goals while also sustaining the ability of natural systems to provide the natural resources and ecosystem services on which the economy and society depend. The des ...
.


World Soil Day

The
Soil Science Society of America The Soil Science Society of America (SSSA), is the largest soil-specific society in the United States. It was formed in 1936 from the merger of the Soils Section of the American Society of Agronomy and the American Soil Survey Association. The So ...
(SSSA) and the
American Society of Agronomy The American Society of Agronomy (ASA) is a scientific and professional society of agronomists and scientists of related disciplines, principally in the United States but with many non-U.S. members as well. About It was founded December 13, 190 ...
(ASA) have invited the public to continue to celebrate World Soil Day on December 5 on an ongoing basis. The
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...
has implemented the hashtag, #WorldSoilDay, and a campaign "Stop soil erosion, Save our future," with suggestions for activities by students, farmers, teachers, NGOs and private sector organizations.
map of International World Soil Day events
is available online, as well as
list of yearly World Soil Day campaigns

poster with World Soil Day Activities from the FAOeducational materials, and a downloadable coloring book for children
The
University of Michigan Museum of Natural History The University of Michigan Museum of Natural History is a natural history museum in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. The museum recently moved to a new location at 1105 North University Avenue, in the University of Michigan Biological Sciences ...
celebrated World Soil Day 2019 with hands-on activities, and a panel discussion by soil scientists and local farmers.
TreeHugger ''TreeHugger'' is a sustainability website that reports on news, and other subjects like eco-friendly design, homes, and gardens. It was rated the top sustainability blog of 2007 by Nielsen Netratings, and was included in Time Magazine's 2009 ...
commemorated World Soil Day 2019 with a feature article explaining how soil is "the foundation of ... of
green building Green building (also known as green construction or sustainable building) refers to both a structure and the application of processes that are environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building's life-cycle: from planni ...
, the plants that make the materials ... to minimize our upfront carbon emissions." Members of the public are urged to commemorate the day with efforts to reduce
food waste Food loss and waste is food that is not eaten. The causes of food waste or loss are numerous and occur throughout the food system, during production, processing, distribution, retail and food service sales, and consumption. Overall, about o ...
, eat a diverse diet,
compost Compost is a mixture of ingredients used as plant fertilizer and to improve soil's physical, chemical and biological properties. It is commonly prepared by decomposing plant, food waste, recycling organic materials and manure. The resulting m ...
, read labels on lawn and garden products, and perform
soil test Soil test may refer to one or more of a wide variety of soil analysis conducted for one of several possible reasons. Possibly the most widely conducted soil tests are those done to estimate the plant-available concentrations of plant nutrients, i ...
s.


International Year of Soils, 2015

The Global Soil Partnership planned a website, logo and activities for The International Year of Soil, and agricultural and environmental organizations around the world held local events to contribute to the special year. The
United States Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the United States federal executive departments, federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, ...
held a kick-off event. Its
National Resources Conservation Service Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), formerly known as the Soil Conservation Service (SCS), is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) that provides technical assistance to farmers and other private landowners and ...
commemorated the event with monthly themes.
OpenLearn OpenLearn is an educational website. It is the UK's Open University's contribution to the open educational resources (OER) project and the home of free, open learning from The Open University. The original project was part-funded by the Wi ...
Open University featured its courses on soil.
Kansas State University Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...
hosted an event in
Manhattan, Kansas Manhattan is a city and county seat of Riley County, Kansas, United States, although the city extends into Pottawatomie County. It is located in northeastern Kansas at the junction of the Kansas River and Big Blue River. As of the 2020 cen ...
to celebrate the International Year of Soils, and kick off the 12th International Phytotechnologies Conference. Vivekananda College hosted a two day Vivekananda Science Exhibition to Rural Masses (VISETORM-VIII) for rural schoolchildren. The 2015 Ethiopia Society of Soils Science (ESSS) Conference chose the theme of “International Year of Soils: Ethiopia Experience." Representatives from the Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, and the Ethiopian Society of Soil Science celebrated World Soil Day at the end of conference. Other events included Sundays with Science lectures at the
San Francisco Public Library The San Francisco Public Library is the public library system of the city and county of San Francisco. The Main Library is located at Civic Center, at 100 Larkin Street. The library system has won several awards, such as ''Library Journals L ...
and
University of Nebraska State Museum The University of Nebraska State Museum, also known as Morrill Hall, founded in 1871, is a natural history museum featuring Nebraska biodiversity, paleontology, and cultural diversity, located on the University of Nebraska–Lincoln City Campus nea ...
, exhibits, events for teachers, and a Microbes Are Us Costume Parade by Hawaiian schoolchildren. The FAO website summarized what individuals could take home from the year as: * A deep and newfound appreciation for our soils, * A wealth of information material, and * Friends, partnerships and linkages, * as well a personal discovery by one of the organizers: "On a closing note, just the other day a member of the IYS Steering told members that he recently found out that soils contain a bacterium called ''
Mycobacterium vaccae ''Mycobacterium vaccae'' is a nonpathogenic species of the Mycobacteriaceae family of bacteria that lives naturally in soil. Its generic name originates from the Latin word, ''vacca'' (cow), since the first ''Mycobacterium'' strain was cultured ...
,'' also known as the Golden Bacillus. Apparently, scientists have found that, when ingested or inhaled, this substance reduces
anxiety Anxiety is an emotion which is characterized by an unpleasant state of inner turmoil and includes feelings of dread over anticipated events. Anxiety is different than fear in that the former is defined as the anticipation of a future threat wh ...
and increases levels of
serotonin Serotonin () or 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) is a monoamine neurotransmitter. Its biological function is complex and multifaceted, modulating mood, cognition, reward, learning, memory, and numerous physiological processes such as vomiting and vas ...
in the brain, making you happier." Official closure of the 2015 International Year of Soils (IYS) took place at
FAO The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...
Headquarters on December 4, 2015.


International Decade of Soils, 2015-2024

The International Union of Soil Scientists has proclaimed 2015-2024 the International Decade of Soils. This is a continuation of the efforts made during the International Year of the Soils 2015.


See also

*
Soil governance Soil governance refers to the policies, strategies, and the processes of decision-making employed by nation states and local governments regarding the use of soil. Globally, governance of the soil has been limited to an agricultural perspective ...
*
Soil health Soil health is a state of a soil meeting its range of ecosystem functions as appropriate to its environment. In more colloquial terms, the health of soil arises from favorable interactions of all soil components (living and non-living) that belong ...
*
Soil conservation Soil conservation is the prevention of loss of the topmost layer of the soil from erosion or prevention of reduced fertility caused by over usage, acidification, salinization or other chemical soil contamination. Slash-and-burn and other unsust ...
*
World Soil Museum The World Soil Museum (WSM) displays physical examples of soil profiles (monoliths) representing major soil types of the world, from the volcanic ash soils from Indonesia to the red, strongly weathered soils from the Amazon region. The museum is ...


References


External links


Poster for World Soil Day Activities from the FAOAbout World Soil Day, from the FAOInternational Year of Soils Activities Page
{{UN International Years
Soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, liquids, and organisms that together support life. Some scientific definitions distinguish ''dirt'' from ''soil'' by restricting the former te ...
Soil Years 2015 in international relations