National Biodiversity Month: Soil
2nd September, 2020
Hello! We’re continuing our series for National Biodiversity Month with something you might not have even thought about… Soil!
Biodiversity isn’t only about birds, animals and plants – it’s also about the relationships between all of these elements to create a productive ecosystem.
This is a concept that scales up, and down to the earth beneath our feet.
Soil is actually a mixture of minerals, organisms, organic matter, liquids, organisms and even gases, that work together to support life.
Western Australian farmers are among the world’s leaders in thinking about the biodiversity of their soil.
Some of our food producers are working to revive, encourage or create natural soil systems that can reduce agriculture’s dependence on artificial fertilisers, fungicides, pesticides and other inputs into the land that produces our food.
Some of these techniques include year-round perennial plantings or mixed crops to keep the soil ‘active’, or holistic grazing and the reintroduction of livestock to farmland. These techniques are designed to build biological life below the surface.
To learn more about how some of Western Australia’s farmers are trying to literally bring our land to life, head over to www.regenwa.com, proudly supported by Perth NRM.