Signs warning about the scale of soil erosion have been popping up across European parks under a new campaign from Dutch organic company Eosta and the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO).
On World Soil Day, which took place on Saturday (5 December), signs appeared in Castle Bristol in the UK, Stromovka Park in Prague, Volkspark Friedrichshain in Berlin, Porta Nuova in Milano, and Vondelpark in Amsterdam.
'Castle Park will be lost in just 30 seconds,” the Bristol sign read, which also included the Save Our Soils logo.
The so-called guerilla action was undertaken by “concerned citizens” in the cities, who responded to a request for help posted on Eosta’s Facebook page.
It aims to highlight that areas the size of parks are being lost due to soil erosion caused by industrial farming, with severe consequences for water management and biodiversity.
'We hope to raise some eyebrows,' says campaign organiser Volkert Engelsman, chief executive of Eosta’s organic brand Nature & More. 'There is certainly enough reason to worry. Of course, nothing bad will happen to Castle Park, but in those 30 seconds a fertile area the size of Bristol Park is lost elsewhere in the world. Every 30 seconds, that is.'
'We are now losing agricultural soils to erosion at a rate of thirty football fields per minute worldwide,” Engelsman continued. “The biggest loss, 2,219 square meters per second, is a result of industrial farming. This has dramatic consequences for food safety, water management, biodiversity, and the climate.'
Soils should play a central part in the climate negotiations in Paris, according to Engelsman, who said that smart organic agriculture would help maintain soil fertility as well as increase carbon content. “If we manage to do that on a global scale, we can actually reach our climate targets,” he said.
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