CPRE Norfolk supports the campaigns to Save our Soil

The #SaveSoil campaign was started by www.consciousplanet.org (Twitter: @cpsavesoil) in response to the little-talked about global crisis of soil degradation and depletion.

If we do not take urgent action to restore the health of our soil, crop yields will decline over the next 2-3 decades. So much so, that there might be 45% less yield by 2045 according to UN bodies such as the FAO and UNCCD. Soil erosion and desertification is causing the loss of 27,000 species of micro-organisms every year.

In response to this crisis, Conscious Planet launched a large-scale media campaign globally in March 2022, attracting the attention of the people to soil and sustainability through channels such as social media, the press, on-ground events and more. Their goal is to reach 3 billion people with a message for soil revitalisation thus ensuring governments across the world have a mandate from their citizens to implement long-lasting policies to protect and rejuvenate the soil.

The Soil Association has their own campaign, and they calculate we lose the equivalent of 30 football pitch sized areas every minute to soil degradation.

The European Commission has announced that 70% of EU soils are unhealthy with large-scale erosion and loss of organic content, resulting in reduced food productivity and a steady decline in biodiversity.

East Anglia is in danger of becoming a ‘dust-bowl’ due to the degradation and loss of peat soils, creating conditions where widespread soil erosion may occur, according to a study co-authored by Prof Aled Jones.

CPRE has its own report on what is happening to our soils, which you can read here.

CPRE Norfolk is proud to support these campaigns as we understand the importance of healthy soil in securing local food supply resilience in the years to come, and in reducing the risk of droughts and floods.

Please join us in strengthening the calls to action.