SoilCritZone Introduction Vamos Workshop near Chania September 2008 Vala Ragnarsdottir

The birth of SoilCritZone Discussion lead by Susan Brantley – for World-Wide University Network in 2004 Applied for Specific Support Action 2005 Awarded 650,000 for four workshops in 2006 – Contract started in 2007 – Project ends 2009 Generate research framework for EU for soils to support the European Soil Directive

SoilCritZone Partnes Europe – Vala Ragnasdottir, Bristol UK - Co-ordinator – Nikos Nikolaidis, Chania, Greece – Steve (Barney) Banwart, Sheffield, UK – Jerome Gaillardet, Paris, France – Martin Novak, Prague, Czech Republic – Paulina van Gaans, Utrecht, Netherlands – Svetla Rousseva, Sofia, Bulgaria – Winfried Blum, Vienna, Austria – Par Aagard, Oslo, Norway USA – Susan Brantley and Tim White, PennState, USA

Resource depletion… We now are a geological force - move 10x more material per year than nature! In 30 years Have used up 1/3 of world’s resources 1/3 of our forests ¼ of our most productive soils … every year 24 billion tonnes are eroded off our land

Study of life-cycle of soils for sustainability Soil the most important resource after water With soils eroding faster than they are being formed - we are living unsustainably Earth habitants 6.7 billion and rising If we loose our soils, we will not be able to feed the Earth population

Ronald Wright (A Short History of Progress): empires that collapse show similar behaviour Stick to entrenched belief and practices, robbing the future to pay the present Spend the last reserves of natural capital on reckless binge of excessive wealth and glory … does this sound familiar????

Past civilization collapses Localized, e.g. the world’s first civilisation – the Sumer from Southern Mesopotamia, which is now Iraq – collapsed around 2000 BC as a result of soil degradation With 6.7 billion people and rising the collapse is more likely to be Global...

Problems arise when people loose sight of the “big picture” Is this you?

Time for formation versus erosion Life cycle analysis of soil has been ignored – Soil science very fragmented Soil formation 50 to 1000 years for A and B horizons – In extreme conditions - 10,000 years – Agronomists quote 1 t/ha/yr – 7 mm/100 yrs – Slow! - of the order of <1-10 mm/100 yrs Soil erosion a major problem today – Fast! - of the order of mm/100 yrs – Considered to be as serious an environmental problem as global warming!

Global common exceeded Growth economics Selfish development Unaware people Poverty Unsustainable consumption Environmental degradation 6.7 billion People

New paradigm for soils: a sustainable system Soil problems Healthy soil Silo/box thinking Holistic/cyclic thinking Work against nature Work with nature Soil restoration Vision Baseline Backcasting Steps Degradation, salinisation, erosion… Everything in system linked…

Systems thinking is key to soil sustainablity

Ervin Lazlo Founder of Club of Budapest “We live at a time when we have the unprecendented power - and hence the unprecendented responsiblity - to decide our destiny”

The need for wisdom “The sooner we create our vision of all we desire, set our intention to implement it together, and put our individual capacities into collective action, the greater our chances of success.” Elisabet Sahtouris, Evolutionaly Biologist, California

Importance of Soil Research Young people will inherit the Earth It is imperative that there is a strong community world- wide that works on soil restoration This is why we have here 50 young soil scientists The future of this planet is up to you! There are not many jobs on Earth that are more important!!!

Thank You European Commission National Science Foundation Worldwide Universities Network