(Defra) Safeguarding our soils for the future
Measures to protect and improve our soil to meet rising demand for food and to combat climate change have been unveiled by Environment Secretary Hilary Benn. England’s soil has suffered over the last 200 years from the impacts of intensive farming and industrial pollution, and today is under threat from erosion by wind and rain, a loss of organic matter and nutrients, and pressure for development.
Safeguarding our Soils, published today, sets out how the government plans to halt and reverse the degradation of England’s soil over the next 20 years, working with farmers and other land managers, developers, planners and construction companies to manage soil sustainably. By 2050 the world will need to double current food production to feed a growing population, possible only with healthy soils. Future sustainability of the UK’s food supply will depend on maintaining the natural resources, including soil, on which production depends.
http://www.defra.gov.uk/news/latest/2009/defra-0924.htm © DEFRA
