In observation of World Soil Day, today December 5th, 2016, Pesticide Action Network Europe (PAN Europe) stands in solidarity with the #People4Soil campaign and 430 other organisations to extend important protections to our soil.
Through intensive modern agriculture and development, one of Europe’s most precious resources—soil—is desperately threatened. According to senior UN official Maria-Helena Semedo of the FAO, a third of all the topsoil on the planet has been lost in the last 150 years, and it would take centuries, to regenerate[1]. The FAO also insists that we have only 60 years of viable topsoil left at the current rate of degradation and usage.
Our current industrial agriculture system depends on: heavy machinery and deep tilling that compacts the soil and destroys natural aggregates; irrigation that washes away nutrients; monocultures; and toxic pesticides and herbicides which all reduce microbial biodiversity and contribute to desertification.
As such, PAN Europe supports the #people4soil goal to:
“Recognize soil as a shared heritage that needs EU level protection, as it provides essential benefits connected to human well-being and environmental resilience; develop a dedicated legally binding framework covering the main soil threats: erosion, sealing, organic matter decline, biodiversity loss and contamination; integrate soil related UN Sustainable Development Goals into EU policies; properly account and reduce greenhouse gases emissions from the farming and forestry sectors.”
We encourage supporters to sign the European Citizens Initiative petition found here and to share the campaign amongst your networks.
PAN Europe is a network of NGOs working to minimise negative effects and replace the use of hazardous chemicals with ecologically sound alternatives. We work to eliminate dependency on chemical pesticides and to support safe sustainable pest control methods. Our network brings together 34 consumer, public health, and environmental organisations, and women's groups from across Europe.
Contact: Timothy Eden, Partnership Manager, tim [at] pan-europe.info +32 (0)460 95 38 44
[1] https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/only-60-years-of-farming-left...
