TEHRAN – An international conference on the occasion of World Soil Day will be held in Pars Special Economic Energy Zone in Bushehr province.

With the slogan "Soil protection, industry, and food security" the event will be participated by representatives of international organizations and local officials.
The Department of Environment, the Ministry of Oil, the Ministry of Agriculture, and representatives of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP)are scheduled to take part in the conference on December 5.

The importance of soil protection in providing food security, the importance of soil protection in the development of oil, gas, and petrochemical industries, solutions for cleaning soils contaminated with hydrocarbon substances, investigating the effects of hydrocarbon pollution and the functioning structure of the soil ecosystem and food security, the application of new technologies and knowledge-based ecosystem are among the main topics of this conference.

On the sidelines of this conference, successful knowledge-based companies will present achievements with new soil cleaning methods, soil protection, and environmental pollution prevention in an exhibition.

The importance of soil in food security, the development of oil, gas, and petrochemical industries, and the knowledge-based ecosystem are among the main topics of this conference.

In 2002, the International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS) made a resolution proposing December 5 to be World Soil Day in order to celebrate the importance of soil as a critical component of the natural system and as a vital contributor to human well-being.

This natural resource hosts over 25 percent of biodiversity and about 90 percent of living organisms spend part of their life cycle in the soil; it also plays an important role in supporting animal biodiversity above ground, including wildlife and domesticated livestock.

The most widely recognized function of the soil is its support for food production. It is estimated that 95% of our food is directly or indirectly produced on the soil. Healthy soil supplies the essential nutrients, water, and oxygen that our food-producing plants need to grow and flourish.

Soil is also crucial for ensuring the continued growth and maintenance of natural and managed vegetation, including diverse forests and grasslands and the huge breadth of species and varieties that are cultivated or managed for their food, feed, fuel, fiber, and medicinal products.

Soil erosion 8 times above global average

According to the latest statistics, Iran loses 2 billion tons of soil annually, according to the 2018 report of the United Nations Development Program, the total amount of global soil erosion is 24 billion tons, so one-twelfth of all global soil erosion occurs in Iran.

This is while, Iran has about one percent of the world's land area, which means that its erosion rate is eight times higher than the global average, so Iran is suffering from severe degradation and soil erosion.

To understand the importance of soil protection, it should be said that it takes an average of 400 years to form a centimeter of soil on the planet.

In Iran, due to the severe erosion, it takes an estimated 800 years to produce a centimeter of soil, so the attention of the people and the government should be on average twice the global average.

Each ton of soil is valued at $28 in terms of metal ores, so the loss of two billion tons of soil annually means an annual loss of $56 billion, which is more than revenues from the sale of oil and agricultural products, gardens, livestock, poultry, and fisheries.

FB/MG