Twelve million hectares of agricultural soils are lost globally through soil degradation every year. As an ecologist, I work alongside farmers and growers in the field and have seen how farming can help solve this global soil crisis.
A report by the UK government’s Environment Agency in 2019 estimated that 17% of soils in England and Wales showed signs of erosion. An estimated 4 million hectares of agricultural land were at risk of compaction, with soil compressed by grazing animals or heavy machinery so that air pockets between soil particles get squeezed out. Another 300,000 hectares of soil were contaminated with pollutants.
