In a 2024 report from the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), the authors talk of seven ways to halt desertification and combat drought. As part of this report, they point out that soil is the planet’s most diverse habitat, with 60% of all species living in soil and 95% of food produced from it. However, more than 2 billion hectares of land is degraded, affecting more than 3 billion people. Bruno Pozzi, the Deputy Director of the Ecosystems Division of UNEP, stated that everyday people have a vital role to play in restoration, which is crucial to our future as a species.
We will discuss both saving and making soil, using examples from our private conservation park at Monarto, and our home garden. In the latter, we will focus on composting, innovative watering systems, rescuing resources and how these and other methods enable us to grow about 1/3 of our food in the city.
