World Soil Day goes to school in Moldova: "The earth feeds us, and we can reward it with our care"

World Soil Day has been celebrated annually on 5  December since 2013. It is a day to acknowledge the crucial role of soil in ensuring food security, and that soil erosion is a global concern. The lessons were initiated by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and implemented as part of a FAO-Global Environment Fund (GEF) project to achieve soil degradation neutrality in the Republic of Moldova.

Gabriela is a sixth-grade pupil studying in the local school in Trebujeni village. She is one of more than 600 pupils from Orhei and Rezina who attended a lesson about soil.

"I learned that about 95 percent of our food comes from the soil. Although I knew this from my parents, because they always told us that the earth nourishes us, I did not realize that the percentage is so high. This means that if we don't take care of the soil, one day we will be left with no food" Gabriela says.

Gabriela's parents have a garden just like everyone in the village. That is why she and her classmates know how to take care of the soil and understand what human activities are harmful to the soil. Sorin, Gabriela's .classmate, says:

"During this lesson, we discussed how some people harm the soil a lot through their practices and then expect the soil to work for them and give them food - they cut down forests, throw away polluting waste such as plastic, set fire to leaves in gardens or fields, use a lot of chemical fertilizers and don't let the soil rest."

Adelina demonstrated during the lesson and afterwards in front of the camera, the actions each of us can take to enjoy what the soil has to offer: "Plant trees, as many as we can, recycle plastic waste or buy fewer items in plastic packaging, take leaves to the garden and bury them into the ground instead of burning them, and stop using so many poisonous chemicals."

Lessons were delivered by the journalist Sorina Obreja, founder of Children and Youth Media Studio - TeVezi:

"Both teachers and students welcomed us warmheartedly. I visited almost all the villages in Orhei and Rezina districts - I met children that were nourished by the land and gardens that they also take care of. Some told us that they rake or even sow to help their parents. They know well what needs to be done to protect the soil, and we structured this knowledge to preserve it for the future. They are the ones who will make decisions in our country, and they need to understand from early childhood what practices are harmful and which ones are good so that we can all enjoy the wealth of Moldova's lands for many years to come."

Tudor Robu, FAO Assistant Representative to the Republic of Moldova, said that demonstration fields are created in the pilot districts of Rezina and Orhei, where sustainable, environmentally friendly technologies and practices are implemented to maintain the ecosystem.

"In the Republic of Moldova, we are increasingly worried about soil degradation. The soil surface fertility is gradually deteriorating and unfortunately, we are still far from using friendly techniques for sustainable agricultural production to diminish this constant process of degradation. For this reason, our project aims to motivate Moldovan farmers to use agricultural land reasonably so that we can obtain good harvests for many years," said Tudor Robu.