World Soil Day 2024
On World Soil Day 2024, Scottish Woodlands' Peatland Project Manager, Erin Stoll, explains why understanding soil health is so important, at both a local and global level.
Healthy soil provides the foundation for agriculture and forestry and stores 3-5 times the amount of carbon held in living vegetation worldwide. Yet soil health has often been overlooked or damaged by unsustainable practices. Currently, soil loss and degradation affect thousands of hectares of land across the UK , threatening food supply and undermining carbon storage globally.
The theme of World Soil Day 2024 is Caring for Soils: Measure, Monitor, Manage, highlighting the importance of accurate soil data in understanding soils and supporting informed decision-making in land management. Informed and appropriate management can be implemented to halt or reverse degradation and carbon loss and restore functionality through a range of soil types, from fertile brown earths to upland blanket bog.
This year’s theme ties in with the work of Scottish Woodlands in assessing and sustainably managing soils across new and existing woodland and peatland sites.
So, what does Measure, Monitor, Manage mean in this context?
Measuring
Understanding soil type, depth and composition is a crucial step in planning any woodland creation project or restructuring an existing woodland. Scotland is fortunate to have excellent nationwide soils data from the James Hutton Institute and NatureScot, providing a baseline for any planning work. However, often the best way to gain insight on local soils is by looking below ground by digging a soil pit or taking a sample using a tool called an auger..
Monitoring
Monitoring soils can be challenging. Many landscape-scale technologies such as drone imagery and LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) - so useful in forest management - cannot directly depict what is happening below the canopy or vegetation surface.
Vegetation indicators can be reflective of current or historical ground conditions. For peatland restoration, a changing vegetation community composition can be an indicator of successful restoration. Bog specialist species such as Sphagnum mosses and Cotton Grass can thrive in healthy waterlogged peatlands.
Managing (healthy soils)
The newly-released UK Woodland Assurance Standard (UKWAS-5) features increased guidance on maintaining healthy forest soil and minimising detrimental impacts during ground preparation, harvesting and other operations. Considering soil as a vital and vulnerable resource which can be disrupted or lost during operations can shift perspective in planning any operations. Sustainable management of the soil resource is vital to ensure optimal growing conditions for the current crop and any future rotations.
* Erin Stoll is Peatland Project Manager with Scottish Woodlands Ltd - the first appointment of its kind by a mainstream forestry business.
