Canberra celebrates World Soil Day

The Soil CRC was honoured to be a Lead Supporter of the Parliamentary Friends of Soil (PFOS) World Soil Day event at Canberra’s Parliament House last month. The event sought to focus attention on the importance of healthy soil and to advocate for its sustainable management.

Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Senator the Hon Murray Watt and PFOS Co-Chairs the Hon Michael McCormack MP and Meryl Swanson MP, each spoke at the event and collectively emphasised the importance of healthy, resilient soils. 

Ms Swanson said it was important to continue to highlight that together soil and water are a source of life—the theme for this years’ World Soil Day.

“Soil and water provide the foundation for food production, ecosystems, and human well-being,” Ms Swanson said.

“Recognising their invaluable and interconnected roles, we must continue to take proactive measures to safeguard these resources for future generations.

“Integrated soil and water management practices provide essential ecosystem services and are vital for the prosperity of many vital Australian industries,” she said.

The Hon McCormack, Co-Chair since the Parliamentary Friends of Soil group was first established, said the group was an essential forum for collaboration between policy-makers, industry and people on the land.

“Soil health is so often overlooked but is vital to human survival and civilisation,” Mr McCormack said.

“Whether it be for plentiful and nutritious yields of the food we grow to eat, the mitigation of droughts, floods and landslides or for biodiversity and the health of the broader ecosystem, having healthy soils is a necessity of a healthy and stable population and planet,” he said.

Also speaking at the event, Soil CRC CEO, Dr Michael Crawford, highlighted the role the Soil CRC plays in bringing scientists, industry and farmers together to find practical solutions for Australia’s underperforming soils.

”Through our research, we have been identifying practical opportunities for farmers to improve their soil management, for both economic and sustainability outcomes,” Dr Crawford said.

“We are now increasing our focus on how we best deliver those findings to farmers and their advisors.”

The Parliamentary Friends of Soil World Soil Day breakfast was hosted by Soil Science Australia with support from the Soil CRC and Soils For Life, along with fifteen other organisations.

Main image: Mr Edward Scott (Soil Science Australia), Mr Michael Walker (Soil Science Australia), Ms Meryl Swanson MP, The Hon Michael McCormack MP, Mr Eli Court (Soils for Life), Dr Michael Crawford (Soil CRC), Dr Paul Greenfield (Chair, Soil CRC), Mr Alasdair MacLeod (Chair, Soils for Life).