We are pleased to announce the publication of JRI Briefing Paper No. 24 “Protecting the Soil Resource” by Dr. David A. Robinson. You can download this briefing: Protecting the Soil Resource (PDF).
“A nation that destroys its soil destroys itself.” This quote from, F.D. Roosevelt, 1937, from a letter written to all state Governors in the USA following the dust bowl, encapsulates the impor-tance of soil protection to a nation. The dust bowl brought about legislation to protect and conserve soils as a fundamental natural resource in the USA between 1930 and 1936. When most people think of soils, they’ll likely think of gardening or farming, but supporting the provisioning of food, feed and fibre is only one of the functions that soils provide that are important for human wellbeing, and sustaining the functionality of the earth’s life support system.