Blog by Ellen Fay, co-founder and co-Executive Director,
This session brought a kaleidoscope of complementary perspectives from Will Blake (University of Plymouth), Diana Mangalagiu (University of Oxford), and Bruce Lascelles (Former BSSS President and President Elect of the International Union of Soil Science).
Together, they offered an interconnected understanding of why soil health has remained under-recognised globally, its critical role across multiple environmental challenges, and what is needed to bridge the gap between international ambition and on-the-ground impact.
Despite its critical role in environmental and societal systems, soil has remained largely invisible across policy and governance. The reasons for this are well rehearsed: soil is difficult to communicate to non-specialists, it lacks the legal protection afforded to air and water, political urgency is often low at regional and local levels, systematic monitoring frameworks are missing, and governance remains fragmented across sectors and scales.
Simultaneously, soil is consistently shown to be foundational. Healthy soils underpin recognised ecosystem functions and are central to biodiversity, water regulation and quality, food security, climate regulation through carbon storage, and human health through nutrition and pathogen control. When soils degrade, the impacts cascade across all of these systems, amplifying global risks rather than remaining confined to land management alone.
Soil at the Nexus of Global Crises and Solutions
Diana illustrated how soil sits at the nexus of multiple global challenges. Evidence presented showed how soil degradation contributes simultaneously to biodiversity loss, water insecurity, climate change, food system vulnerability, and health risks. Importantly, the inverse was also demonstrated – soil health represents a powerful point of leverage for integrated solutions.
Insights aligned with the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) Nexus Assessment highlighted that single-sector policies often create unintended trade-offs, while integrated approaches unlock co-benefits across climate, biodiversity, water, food, and health. This reinforced the idea that soil health should not be treated as a standalone issue, but as a golden thread unifying more cohesive environmental policy and practice.
The Gap Between Global Ambition and Local Reality
Both Will Blake and Bruce Lascelles emphasised that soil health has gained momentum at the international level, with growing recognition in global frameworks and assessments. However, a persistent gap remains between this ambition and what happens on the ground.
Will Blake’s experience highlighted how local land management decisions, particularly for smallholder farmers, are often shaped by survival pressures, economic margins, and external forces such as climate change, population growth, and land tenure change. In this context, global goals can feel distant unless they align clearly with local priorities and benefits.
Bruce Lascelles reinforced that translating global momentum into national and sub-national delivery mechanisms is a major task. Differences between countries, geographies, and governance systems mean there is no single pathway forward. Progress requires both top-down frameworks to enable action and bottom-up innovation to demonstrate what works in practice.
Interdisciplinarity and Collaboration as a Requirement, Not an nice-to-have
A consistent message across all contributions was that soil health cannot be advanced by soil scientists alone. The progress made so far has relied on interdisciplinary collaboration between soil scientists, social scientists, legal experts, planners, policymakers, and practitioners.
Examples shared demonstrated that successful projects embedded soil expertise within broader efforts involving ecology, restoration, planning, monitoring, stakeholder and local community engagement. Soil science was positioned as a core thread running through these initiatives, rather than the sole driver. This requires soil scientists to reach beyond disciplinary boundaries, listen to other perspectives, and lend itself to varying social, political, and economic imperatives.
Empowerment, Evidence, and Long-Term Change
A key learning was the importance of empowering local actors. Will Blake’s work demonstrated that when communities are involved not only in co-developing solutions but also in generating and owning evidence through accessible monitoring tools and shared, data changes in land management are more likely to be adopted and sustained.
Quote “ fusing community knowledge with research evidence from the project outset ensures farmers are not simply research beneficiaries but co-creators of soil health solutions that have the best chance of success”
However, the session also highlighted a major challenge in maintaining momentum beyond project lifetimes. Even well-designed, holistic interventions can begin to unravel once funding ends e.g. before intervention practice has achieved self-sustaining momentum, particularly when external pressures lie outside community control. This reinforced the need for longer-term evidence-led governance, sustained support, and alignment between local action and higher-level policy frameworks.
Closing the Global Policy Gap
The concluding message brought these strands together – closing the global policy gap on soil health is possible. Top-down frameworks provide structure, legitimacy, and coordination, while bottom-up innovation tells us what works in real-world contexts. When combined, these approaches can transform soil governance globally.
Overall Takeaway
Taken together, the key learning from this session was that placing soil health on the global stage requires more than awareness or ambition. Soil must be recognised as central to multiple global crises and solutions, governed through integrated and cross-sector approaches, and supported by both international frameworks and locally driven action.
Bridging the international gap depends on interdisciplinarity, empowerment, long-term commitment, and a willingness to act across scales, moving soil health from the margins to the centre of global sustainability efforts.
