Soil is at the root of a healthy planet but we’re treating it like dirt

Originally published in The Globe and Mail on April 14, 2023

Canada hosts 10 of the 12 different types of soil within our diverse landscapes and they all play a vital role in sustaining life. Healthy soil safeguards nature, filters water, stores carbon and increases biodiversity both above and below ground. It also provides 95 per cent of the food we eat. The bottom line: healthy soil is at the root of everything essential to our survival.

Unfortunately, we often take soil for granted. We don’t think of soil as a finite resource that can be endangered, but the reality is that soil degradation puts us all at risk. According to the Soil Conservation Council of Canada, soil erosion costs Canadians $3 billion every year.

During National Soil Conservation Week (April 16-22), Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) urges Canadians to think about our soil and how it impacts the health of our communities.

“Our soil is an active, living, breathing ecosystem. It is what gives our planet life, but it needs to be cared for so it will continue to regenerate and sustain us,” says Chris Pullen, DUC’s national director of sustainability solutions.

Habitat conservation supports healthy soils

For DUC, healthy soils quite literally lay the groundwork for our conservation efforts. In fact, DUC was formed in 1938 as a habitat conservation organization based on concerns stemming from severe drought and soil erosion during the Dust Bowl, a period of dust storms in the 1930s that damaged the ecology and agriculture in the American and Canadian Prairies.

The consequences of reduced soil quality and quantity are wide-ranging and include negative impacts on agricultural productivity, water quality and ecosystem health. And once healthy soil is lost it is not easily replaced. Canada’s Prairie soils took over 10,000 years to form. Yet, more than half of the organic matter in these soils has been lost over the last century.

Today, the ongoing expansion of our cities, increased demands on soils to produce more food for a growing population, along with the challenges of a changing climate, make the need for climate-resilient landscapes and the adoption of sustainable agriculture practices more important than ever.

This is why DUC is at the forefront of research, program development and the creation of best management practices to support our agricultural and industry partners, landowners and their communities. For 85 years, the habitat conservation organization has been working to bolster resilient landscapes that keep nutrients in our soil and clean water accessible for everyone.

“DUC is proud to work alongside more than 22,000 landowners across the country who are helping steward our soils. We promote sustainable agriculture practices like crop rotation and reduced tillage, forage and rangeland management and other farmgate programs,” says Pullen. “DUC also collaborates with other partners including Indigenous communities and the forestry sector to develop a deeper understanding of soils and develop sustainable practices that support healthy landscapes.”