Syllabus: Distribution of key natural resources
Context
- World Soil Day (December 5) highlights soil as a foundation of human civilisation.
- FAO’s 2025 theme “Healthy Soils for Healthy Cities” shifts attention from rural to urban soils.
Importance of Urban Soils
- Over 56% of the world’s population resides in cities, facing pollution, heat, floods, and food insecurity.
- Urban soil is a living resource, acting as filter, sponge, and carbon sink.
- A teaspoon of healthy soil contains more organisms than Earth’s population.
Key Ecosystem Services
- Climate mitigation: Vegetated soils absorb heat, sequester carbon, and reduce heat-island effects.
- Flood control: Healthy soils absorb rainfall, filter water, and recharge groundwater unlike concrete surfaces.
- Urban food systems: Rooftop farms and gardens rely on fertile soil, strengthening local food resilience.
- Biodiversity: Soil ecosystems support worms, microbes, and pollinators essential for plant growth.
- Human well-being: Soil-rich green spaces provide “Vitamin N”, reducing stress and improving mental health.
Threats to Urban Soils
- Nearly one-third of global soils are degraded; the situation is worse in cities.
- Urban soils face contamination, compaction, sealed surfaces, and loss of organic matter.
- These pressures harm plant growth, threaten food safety, and weaken urban ecosystems.
Blueprint for Action
- Restore urban soils through composting, soil testing, and organic amendments.
- Limit soil sealing during construction to protect this non-renewable resource.
- Promote green infrastructure such as rain gardens, parks, and tree belts.
- Encourage urban agriculture through gardens and container planting.
- Adopt eco-friendly soil management, reducing chemicals and preserving topsoil.
- Strengthen soil literacy via school workshops and household composting.
Conclusion
- Urban resilience depends on living, healthy soils.
- Protecting soil ensures safer cities, healthier citizens, and sustainable futures.