#soilislife — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #soilislife, aggregated by home.social.
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#Africa - #Rewilding To Restore #Ecosystems
Restoring #ecosystems to benefit #wildlife and human communities
"Rewilding is the large-scale restoration of ecosystems to a point where nature can take care of itself. This approach aims to reinstate natural processes and, where appropriate, responsibly reintroduce ‘extirpated’ (meaning locally extinct) species. These key species are not only crucial to shaping their landscapes and habitats, but also provide essential ecosystem services.
"In Africa, human activities such as #agriculture, #urbanisation, and #deforestation have significantly altered natural landscapes, leading to habitat loss and species decline. African Parks and its partners seek to reverse these trends by reintroducing keystone species – in other words, species that play critical roles in maintaining the structure and function of these ecosystems. Such rewilding efforts also address the urgent need to mitigate climate change. Intact and fully-functioning ecosystems, such as forests and wetlands, act as carbon sinks, absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and helping to regulate the global climate. Additionally, rewilding can enhance ecosystem services such as water purification, soil fertility, and #pollination, which are essential for human wellbeing."
Learn more:
https://www.africanparks.org/rewilding-restore-ecosystems#SolarPunkSunday #Adaptation #ForestRehabilitation #WaterIsLife #SoilIsLife #Reforestation #NatureBasedSolutions
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How #LandRestoration is strengthening #ecosystems and #communities across #Africa
June 16, 2025
"Across Africa, land degradation and #ClimateChange are converging to create a growing crisis. Unsustainable land use, #deforestation and #SoilErosion have left millions of hectares barren, stripping communities of the natural resources they rely on. Meanwhile, the impacts of climate change – shifting rainfall patterns, rising temperatures and more frequent #droughts and #floods – are compounding pressures on #agriculture and water resources.
"Today, an estimated 65 percent of Africa's land is impacted by land degradation and drought, affecting more than 400 million people and causing economic losses exceeding US$70 billion each year.
"Governments across the continent are increasingly prioritizing land restoration as a national and regional imperative by pioneering policies, partnerships and investments to reverse degradation and strengthen #ClimateChangeAdaptation and #resilience. This brings tangible benefits for both people and nature, helping to secure food systems, create economic opportunities and strengthen communities against #ClimateShocks.
With support from the Global Environment Facility’s Least Developed Countries Fund and UNDP, #Ethiopia, #Rwanda and #Senegal are transforming degraded landscapes into a source of stability and productivity, their experience offering a replicable model for other nations confronting similar challenges."
#SolarPunkSunday #FoodSecurity #Adaptation #TerraceGardening #ForestRehabilitation #WaterIsLife #SoilIsLife #Reforestation #NatureBasedSolution
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No surprise. #ChelliePingree voted against HR556, #JaredGolden voted for it.
Protect #Wildlife from Toxic #LeadAmmunition [and #FishingTackle]
"#HR556, a bill to prevent federal agencies from prohibiting or regulating the use of toxic lead ammunition and fishing tackle on certain public lands and waters, passed the House of Representatives on March 18. However, we are not done fighting this bill! Lead ammunition is a well-documented threat, leading to illness and death for millions of birds and other wild animals each year. Since there is no safe level for lead exposure, hunters, anglers, and their families can also be harmed. Please contact your US representative about their vote on H.R. 556 and urge your senators to oppose this bill."
https://awionline.org/action-center#/535
Bill Status and details:
H.R.556 — 119th Congress (2025-2026)
Protecting Access for Hunters and Anglers Act of 2025
"This bill bars the Fish and Wildlife Service (#FWS), the Bureau of Land Management (#BLM), and the Forest Service from prohibiting or regulating the use of lead ammunition or tackle on federal land or water. The bill makes exceptions for specified existing regulations and where the FWS, the BLM, or the Forest Service determines that a decline in wildlife population at the specific unit of federal land or water is primarily caused by the use of lead in ammunition or tackle, based on the field data from such unit, and the state approves the regulations."
House Roll Call Vote 93 119th Congress - 2nd Session (2026)
Passed - Yea: 215 | Nay: 202
(R 208-1 Pres=0 NV=9, D 7-201 Pres=0 NV=6, I 0-0 Pres=0 NV=0)Full voting roster:
https://www.congress.gov/votes/house/119-2/93#USPol #MainePol #ProtectWildlife #ProtectNature #LeadPoisoning #WaterIsLife #SoilIsLife #NatureIsLife
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#MaineDEP #Sustainability program - #HomeComposting
"What is composting?
Compost is a dark brown, earthy, crumbly material made of decomposed organic matter.
Benefits of Composted Material
When added to soil, compost improves soil porosity and water retention, and provides plants with essential nutrients.
Composting diverts organic materials from the waste stream and our landfills!
How does Material Decompose? Millions of microorganisms work to break down organic material. We can speed up composting by managing the process.
How do I start a compost pile?Start by picking a location. Look for an area that is:
- Well -drained and close to level
- In partial shade, to help with water retention
- At least 1 -foot away from walls, fences, bushes, trees etc.
- A convenient spot to place materials and to get the end product to its final locationWhat tools will I need?
These tools may help get you started:
- Compost bin
- Pitchfork (compost turner)
- Chipper/shredder
- Wheelbarrow (for transport)
- Garden hose
- 4’ X 12’ Sturdy coated wire mesh (to form cylinder to contain compost pile, if desired)"Learn more:
https://www.maine.gov/dep/sustainability/compost/home-composting.html#SolarPunkSunday #Composting #Compost #HomeCompost #SoilIsLife #ReduceFoodWaste
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Hey, whatever it takes to #WakePeopleUp!
#MAHA moms threaten to turn this car around as #RFKJr flips on pesticide
MAHA members call movement a “sham” after Kennedy supports #glyphosate order.
Beth Mole – Feb 20, 2026
"Members of the Make America Health Again movement are in open revolt after founder Robert F. Kennedy Jr. publicly backed President Trump’s executive order Wednesday that would increase domestic production of glyphosate—a pesticide the MAHA movement and Kennedy have railed against.
"Vani Hari, an ally of Kennedy who goes by 'Food Babe,' told The Washington Post she was left 'speechless' by the move.
" 'We truly were hoping that this administration would put people over corporate power,' she said, 'but this action moves us away from that commitment.'
"#Trump’s executive order invoked the #DefenseProductionAct to boost domestic production of glyphosate, the active ingredient in #Bayer’s #Roundup products. Currently, the US imports large quantities of glyphosate from China, according to Reuters.
"The MAHA movement has been vehemently opposed to the use of glyphosate, claiming it contributes to childhood health problems. In 2024, Kennedy—an anti-vaccine activist and environmental lawyer who was then running for president—wrote on social media: 'The herbicide Glyphosate is one of the likely culprits in America’s chronic disease epidemic. … Shockingly, much of our exposure comes from its use as a desiccant on wheat, not as an #herbicide. From there it goes straight into our bodies. My USDA will ban that practice.' " [Yeah, right, sure you will... And I have a bridge I can sell you.]
#TrumpRegrets #MAGARevolt #USPol #RoundUpKills #Poison #SoilIsLife #WaterIsLife #BayerKnew
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Um, anyone who willingly uses #PFAS-laden #SkiWax these days should be forced to eat it! After all, all the critters exposed to the wax will end up consuming it. Fairs fair! You use it, you eat it!
The #Olympics just saw its first ‘forever chemical’ disqualifications
Waxes containing #PFAS are banned at the Milan-Cortina Games. Three athletes already have been disqualified for using them
Tik Root, Feb 12, 2026
"Heading into the Milan-Cortina #2026Olympics, skiers and snowboarders were already adjusting to a ban on #fluorinated waxes long prized for making their equipment faster. This week, the #WinterGames saw their first enforcement of that rule, which is aimed at protecting public health and the #environment.
" 'South Korean cross-country skiers #HanDasom and #LeeEuiJin were disqualified from the women’s sprint event on Tuesday. That came one day after Japanese snowboarder #ShibaMasaki was disqualified from the men’s parallel giant slalom. In all three cases, routine testing found banned compounds on their equipment.
"For decades, elite snow sports athletes have relied on waxes with #fluorocarbons that are exceptional at repelling water and dirt. Former U.S. cross-country racer Nathan Schultz told Grist the so-called '#fluoro' waxes provide a 'really ridiculous speed advantage,' especially in warmer conditions like those experienced at these Games.
"But these waxes also contained PFAS, short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. This class of 15,000 so-called 'forever chemicals' are notorious for never breaking down. Studies have linked exposure to PFAS to #ThyroidDisease, developmental problems, and #cancer, and research has found elevated levels in ski technicians who regularly handled the waxes. PFAS have also been detected in #soil and #water near ski venues, including wells drawing from aquifers in #ParkCityUtah, suggesting broader #environmental #contamination."
Read more:
https://grist.org/accountability/the-olympics-just-saw-its-first-forever-chemical-disqualifications/#ForeverChemicals #Poisons #Wildlife #WaterIsLife #SoilIsLife #HumanStupidity #3MKnew
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Dead Soils, Lost Roots, and the Path to Recovering the West
To understand how to heal the land, we have to remember what was lost—and what still survives in hidden patches of ungrazed land.
Aug 27, 2025, @WesternWatershedsProject
"From the sagebrush-steppe of the Intermountain West to the coastal prairies of Point Reyes National Seashore, it is crucial to to restoring native perennial grasslands to understand what makes up a healthy ecosystem.
"Widespread and heavy cattle and sheep grazing have degraded or eliminated much of the native bunchgrasses that were important components of western grasslands. We have reconstructed a baseline visual model of how a generalized thriving perennial grassland community might have appeared within 500 years prior to European contact in North America.
[...]
"The process can be reversed, and progress can be made in setting the path toward recovery and restoration of the original grasslands. Ungrazed or little-grazed native grassland relicts in parks, fenced livestock exclosures, and inaccessible spots like cliffs can give us clues as to what the land used to be like. But the removal of the primary stressor is absolutely necessary to begin this healing: the cattle and domestic sheep must go."
Learn more:
https://westernwatersheds.substack.com/p/dead-soils-lost-roots-and-the-path#SoilRestoration #NativeGrasses #Restoring #Rewilding #CattleGrazing #SheepGrazing #SolarPunkSunday #SoilIsLife
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The smoke from #Canada’s #wildfires may be even more #toxic than usual
A legacy of #mining means that #ToxicMetals could be carried along plumes of smoke.
by Matt Simon, June 5, 2025
"More than 200 wildfires are blazing across central and western Canada, half of which are out of control because they’re so hard for crews to access, forcing 27,000 people to evacuate. Even those nowhere near the wildfires are suffering as smoke swirls around Canada and wafts south, creating hazardous air quality all over the midwestern and eastern parts of the United States. The smoke is even reaching Europe.
"As the climate changes, the far north is drying and warming, which means wildfires are getting bigger and more intense. The area burned in Canada is now the second largest on record for this time of year, trailing behind the brutal wildfire season of 2023. That year, the amount of #carbon blazed into the atmosphere was about three times the country’s #FossilFuel emissions. And the more carbon that’s emitted from wildfires — in Canada and elsewhere — the faster the #PlanetaryWarming, and the worse the fires.
" 'There’s obviously the #ClimateFeedback concern,' said Mike Waddington, an environmental scientist at McMaster University in Ontario who studies Canada’s forests. 'But increasingly we’re also concerned about the smoke.'
"That’s because there’s much more to wildfire smoke than charred sticks and leaves, especially where these blazes are burning in Canada. The country’s #forests have long been #mined, operations that loaded #soils and #waterways with #ToxicMetals like #lead and #mercury, especially before clean-air standards kicked in 50 years ago. Now everyone downwind of these wildfires may have to contend with that legacy and those pollutants, in addition to all the other nasties inherent in #WildfireSmoke, which are known to exacerbate respiratory and cardiac problems.
" 'You have there the burning of these organic soils resulting in a lot of carbon and a lot of #ParticulateMatter,' said Waddington. 'Now you have this triple whammy, where you have the metals #remobilized in addition to that.'
"What exactly is lurking in the smoke from Canadian wildfires will require further testing by scientists. But an area of particular concern is around the mining city of #FlinFlon, in #ManitobaCanada, which is known to have elevated levels of toxic metals in the landscape, said Colin McCarter, an environmental scientist who studies pollutants at Ontario’s #NipissingUniversity. Flin Flon’s 5,000 residents have been evacuated as a wildfire approaches, though so far no structures have been destroyed.
"But a fire doesn’t need to directly burn mining operations to mobilize toxicants. For example, in #Yellowknife, in Canada’s #NorthwestTerritories, #GoldMining operations between 1934 and 2004 spread #arsenic as far as 18 miles away, adding to a landscape with an already high concentration of naturally occurring arsenic. In a paper published last year, Waddington and McCarter estimated that between 1972 and 2023, wildfires around Yellowknife fired up to 840,000 pounds of arsenic into the atmosphere. Arsenic is a known carcinogen associated with cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and developmental problems, according to the World Health Organization. (After the 2023 #LahainaFire in Maui, officials reported elevated levels of arsenic, lead, and other toxic substances in ash samples. California officials also found lots of lead in smoke from 2018’s #CampFire.)"
Source:
https://grist.org/climate/canada-wildfire-smoke-toxic-arsenic/?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-us#WaterIsLife #SoilIsLife #AirIsLife #Mining #ToxicLegacy #FirstNations #Canada #Pollution #Worldwide #AQI #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #ClimateCatastrophe #AirQualityIndex