World Soil Day
Next: December 5, 2026
Good things grow from healthy soil.
The story
Where it comes from
The International Union of Soil Sciences proposed a world day for soil in 2002, the year of its World Congress of Soil Science in Bangkok. Thailand championed the idea; the FAO Conference endorsed it in June 2013, and that December the UN General Assembly designated 5 December as World Soil Day. The date honours the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand, whose birthday it was, for his lifelong work on sustainable soil management. The first official World Soil Day was held in 2014.
How it's celebrated
FAO's Global Soil Partnership supports events around the world, from training for farmers to school activities and photo contests. Each year the King Bhumibol World Soil Day Award, sponsored by Thailand, honours an outstanding celebration held the year before. At home you can mark the day by composting, planting something or looking closely at a handful of earth.
Did you know
- There are more living organisms in a tablespoon of healthy soil than there are people on Earth.
- FAO estimates that 95 per cent of our food is directly or indirectly produced in soils.
- The same UN resolution that created the day declared 2015 the International Year of Soils.
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