1.1 The Status of Soils Around the World
It is true that there are people who have long understood the value of bio-productive
land, that is to say that good soils contribute to the wellbeing of humans—if not to
the life of the planet as a whole.
3 However, soil and its productive capacity were not
subjects that humanity as a whole concerned itself with so as to make it a priority for
protection at the national and international levels. While this might sound like a
sweeping statement, one just has to look at the latest “State of the World’s Land and
Water Resources” (SOLAW) report, which shows, inter alia, that 25% of the planet’s
lands is highly degraded, 8% moderately degraded and 36% stable or slightly
degraded, while 18% is bare.
4 It is clear from this report that soil degradation is
very serious indeed, that it has global effects, and that it must be arrested as a matter
of necessary urgency. Indeed, the SOLAW report goes on to state that “large parts of
all continents are experiencing degradation, with particularly high incidence of
degradation down the west coast of the Americas, across Southern Europe and
North Africa, across the Sahel and the Horn of Africa, and throughout Asia.”
5
This degradation did not happen overnight but is rather the consequence of a long
process. And there is no disputing the role of human hands as a major cause agent in
this degradation process.
6 Indeed, the available statistics
7 seem to suggest that we
have had a terrible behaviour towards the earth. With us now needing more of
everything (including water, food and energy), thereby creating greater and greater
demand on the bio-productive lands of the planet, the question is: can we continue
our present behaviour as regards our misuse and abuse of the land resources of this
planet? If not, then we must change that behaviour at every level. More than that, the
new and appropriate behaviour must be compulsory universally. This is why law is
necessary for the protection of soils, for it is law that regulates the behaviour of
humans in the modern state. So new laws are needed to prescribe a new and better
relation of humans to land,
8 and this is absolutely for land is the very basis of all
existence. Without a proper legal framework both at the international and national
level that addresses this question of our behavioural change to one of protection of
the planet’s lands, the situation is bound to get worse.
9
3 Brevik (2005).
4 FAO (2011), p. 111.
5 FAO (2011), p. 111.
6 Blaikie and Brookfield (1987).
7 Eswaran et al. (2001).
8 Boer and Hannam (2005).
9 IPBES (2018).
2
R. Byron-Cox
It is true that there are people who have long understood the value of bio-productive
land, that is to say that good soils contribute to the wellbeing of humans—if not to
the life of the planet as a whole.
3 However, soil and its productive capacity were not
subjects that humanity as a whole concerned itself with so as to make it a priority for
protection at the national and international levels. While this might sound like a
sweeping statement, one just has to look at the latest “State of the World’s Land and
Water Resources” (SOLAW) report, which shows, inter alia, that 25% of the planet’s
lands is highly degraded, 8% moderately degraded and 36% stable or slightly
degraded, while 18% is bare.
4 It is clear from this report that soil degradation is
very serious indeed, that it has global effects, and that it must be arrested as a matter
of necessary urgency. Indeed, the SOLAW report goes on to state that “large parts of
all continents are experiencing degradation, with particularly high incidence of
degradation down the west coast of the Americas, across Southern Europe and
North Africa, across the Sahel and the Horn of Africa, and throughout Asia.”
5
This degradation did not happen overnight but is rather the consequence of a long
process. And there is no disputing the role of human hands as a major cause agent in
this degradation process.
6 Indeed, the available statistics
7 seem to suggest that we
have had a terrible behaviour towards the earth. With us now needing more of
everything (including water, food and energy), thereby creating greater and greater
demand on the bio-productive lands of the planet, the question is: can we continue
our present behaviour as regards our misuse and abuse of the land resources of this
planet? If not, then we must change that behaviour at every level. More than that, the
new and appropriate behaviour must be compulsory universally. This is why law is
necessary for the protection of soils, for it is law that regulates the behaviour of
humans in the modern state. So new laws are needed to prescribe a new and better
relation of humans to land,
8 and this is absolutely for land is the very basis of all
existence. Without a proper legal framework both at the international and national
level that addresses this question of our behavioural change to one of protection of
the planet’s lands, the situation is bound to get worse.
9
3 Brevik (2005).
4 FAO (2011), p. 111.
5 FAO (2011), p. 111.
6 Blaikie and Brookfield (1987).
7 Eswaran et al. (2001).
8 Boer and Hannam (2005).
9 IPBES (2018).
2
R. Byron-Cox