School children and Lancaster University Scientists are set to take part in a nationwide tree planting to celebrate World Soils Day and mark the launch of the International Year of Soils 2015.
On 5 December, Professor Phil Haygarth, President of the British Society of Soil Science (BSSS) and Professor of Soil and Water Science at Lancaster University, planted a Rowan tree at Lancaster Girls’ Grammar School and Dallas Road Community Primary School, Lancaster.
Thirty schools across the United Kingdom were visited by a BSSS Soil Scientist for a tree planting for the launch. The society also marked the event in the Falkland Islands with a planting.
Society President Professor Phil Haygarth of Lancaster University said: “Soil is the often hidden resource that is essential for supporting everything we do in our lives, from providing the food we eat to purifying the water we drink and supporting the houses we live in.”
BSSS is looking to raise awareness of the importance of soils, celebrate our soils, catalyse initiatives and provide a modern perspective of soil science as well as marking the start of the road to the 2022 World Congress of Soil Science which they will be hosting in Glasgow in August 2022.
During 2015 the BSSS will run a programme of events to highlight the importance of the ground beneath our feet.
Lancaster University is home to the Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in soil science.