Science exhibition dedicated to soil.
Did you know that 95% of our food comes from the soil? And that there are more living organisms in a tablespoon of soil than people on Earth. And yet it can take up to 1,000 years to produce just 2-3 cm of soil?
The benefits and services soil provides to humans are diverse and essential, such as its key role in food security, adaptation and mitigation of climate change, poverty reduction and sustainable development. Likewise, there are several threats that the soil faces: intensification of agriculture, with the consequent application of pesticides, contamination by metals and other pollutants, salinization and erosion. World Soil Day (WSD) has been celebrated annually on December 5th since 2013, the year the United Nations General Assembly defined this day to draw attention to the importance of healthy soil and to defend the sustainable management of soil resources.
The theme for the DMS this year is "Caring for Soils: Measure, Monitor, Manage". This motto aims to highlight the importance of collecting accurate data and information about the soil to understand its characteristics and support informed decision-making on sustainable soil management for food security.
As part of the celebrations, the E3G - Environmental Ecology and Ecotoxicology Group, in partnership with other research groups from the Center for Functional Ecology - Science for People and the Planet of the Department of Life Science at the University of Coimbra, with the CNC and the Municipality of Cantanhede will organize a science exhibition dedicated to Soil and its symbiosis with organisms that we cannot see and with others that we see, but escape our attention.
It's a unique universe, discover it with us!