IMPORTANCE OF SOIL AND

WATER CONSERVATION

PREPARED BY: CHRISTAN JOHN ABRENICA

IMPORTANCE OF SOIL
CONSERVATION
 THE HUMAN ADVANTAGE

• Humanity has a huge advantage over all life on earth – the ability to grow food.
Every other lifeform spends most of their day hunting for and gathering
nourishment. Today, billions of us are sustained by what farmers grow. When it
comes to survival, growing food is clearly an asset. However, this upper hand is
fragile.
 NUTRIENT-RICH SOIL vs INFERTILE DIRT

• Just like the air we breathe or the water we drink, soil needs to be protected. The
dirt on a baseball field and the soil in your garden may look similar – but they’re
worlds apart. Soil is complicated. It comes in many forms, from many places
with a variety of names. Infertile dirt is everywhere and easy to find while the
lively, nutrient-rich soil that grows our food is rare and precious.
 “A nation that destroys its soil destroys itself.”
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
 SOIL FEEDS

• When soil is protected, it helps plants create more nutrients our bodies need, like
protein.

• Q: Can soil make protein?

- The billions of microbes living in healthy soil produce amino acids, which plants
convert to protein. If neglected, these precious microbes are lost from the soil.
 SOIL CLEANS

• Healthy, vibrant soil can help keep the environment cleaner and healthier.

• Q: Does soil prevent erosion?

- Nutrient-rich soil has a strong, stable structure. When mismanaged, soil loses the
structure causing dust to form, increasing erosion and air pollution.
 SOIL PROTECTS

• When properly managed, soil protects plants from harm.

• Q: Can soil defend plants?

- bacteria, fungi, and other microbes living in healthy soil form a natural defense
from pests and disease. Infertile, mismanaged soil has fewer microbes, putting
plants at risk.
 SOIL UNLOCKS HUMAN POTENTIAL

• Since the dawn of agriculture, food has become more accessible to more people.
In large part, this is due to soil. Fertile soil leads to better harvests which helps
meet our basic needs. Those living in countries with healthy soil are then free to
think, invent, create and imagine new possibilities. When humans are properly
nourished, they do amazing things.
 RESTORING SOIL
The more active and vibrant the soil, the more
alive and nutritious the food. We must invest
in soil conservation not just for farmers and
people, but for all life on earth. Less than 3%
of all land on earth has fertile, nutrient-rich
soil. We seek to share, collaborate and
innovate new ways of protecting and restoring
this natural resource.
IMPORTANCE OF WATER
CONSERVATION
• Water is one of the most important natural resources we need, but it is also a
resource we have misused and wasted. To better understand the growing
importance of water conservation let’s look at a few facts.
• First, the average adult human body is 50-65% water, averaging around 57-
60%.the percentage of water in infants is much higher, typically around 75-78%
water, dropping to 65% by one year of age. To remain healthy, we must replenish
the water we lose through sweat, tears, urine, etc. We need drinkable water
supplies in abundance.
• Second, the Earth has a finite amount of water. The water we have now is all we
get, it is recycled over and over. The water cycle can help understand why this is.
- Solar energy evaporates water from the ocean, lakes and rivers. Millions of liters
of water rise into the atmosphere as water vapor. This process is call
evaporation.
- As the water vapor pushes over the land by winds and rises over mountains, the
water vapor cools and turns back into tiny water droplets, forming clouds. The
droplets joining together is termed condensation. These droplets fall to earth as
rain (precipitation)
- The rain runs into steams and rivers which eventually flow into lakes or the sea
and the cycle begins all over again.
• Third, water is required for our food. It grows our fruits and vegetables and it is
consumed by cattle.
• Fourth, water is necessary for plant life which is necessary to keep us healthy.
Plants re-oxygenate the air. Plants are used to make medication. Trees are used
for housing, paper, and so much more.
 WHAT’S AT STAKE IF WE
CONTINUE DOWN THIS PATH
OF WATER WASTE?
 LESS AND/OR MORE EXPENSIVE ENERGY

• Water makes a lot of the energy we use possible. The extraction of common
source of energy (oil, gas, coal, biomass, etc.) requires water. Hydropower
energy derived from falling water, uses fresh water. The less fresh water that we
have the more expensive energy becomes.
 LESS FOOD

• A full 70% of humanity’s fresh water supply is used to grow crops. Furthermore,
freshwater fish, another major source of our diets and a large sector of the food
chain, requires fresh water to survive. The more we pollute and/or abuse our
water supply, the less likely we are to maintain a sustainable source of food as
would all of Earth’s creatures.
 WHAT’S TO BLAME?

• Population growth. While we can’t spur the population, we can spur our abuse of
water so that we can prevent millions more from dying from water-related illnesses.
• Climate change. Caused by burning of fossil fuels and the effects include reduced
rainfall in some areas, halting the flow of fresh water to regions that were formerly
accustomed to nature providing this very necessary resource.
• Deforestation. Which an impact that prevents or forests from collecting, storing,
purifying, and providing fresh water to populations that lie downstream.