5 December: World Soil Day

World Soil Day is celebrated annually on 5 December. The International Union of Soil Science (IUSS) made a resolution in 2002 to declare a special day on every 5 December to celebrate the importance of soil as a critical component of the natural world. Globally there are about 60,000 soil scientists.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) conference in June 2013 endorsed World Soil Day, and in December 2013 the United Nations General Assembly formally declared 5 December to be World Soil Day commencing in 2014. The date was chosen because it was the official birthday of H.M. Bhumibol Adulyadej, the King of Thailand, who sanctioned the event.

The 2016 theme for World Soil Day is ‘Soils and pulses, a symbiosis for life.’ Pulses are beans, lentils, and peas, which are cheap, low-fat sources of protein, fibre, vitamins and minerals. They are also a good source of iron.

http://www.fao.org/global-soil-partnership/world-soil-day

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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