Thailand celebrates World Soil Day 2017

Ratchaburi Province, Thailand – 5 December 2017 – The World Soil Day ceremony took place at the Khao Cha-Ngum Royal Study Centre for Land Degradation Development under the theme “Caring for the Planet Starts from the Ground.” 

The event drew more than 2 000 participants, including the representatives of the national and local government, teachers, researchers, farmers, students from neighboring provinces and representatives from UN agencies, international institutions and the private sector. 

The ceremony commemorated the memory of King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand, who earlier this year was honored as the first recipient of the Humanitarian Soil Scientist Award for his dedication to soil resource management. The organizations and individual farmers who employ best practices in sustainable soil management have also received recognition during the ceremony. The participants also visited the experimental plots, soil pits and natural forest at the Centre.

The event, organized by the national Land Development Department, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Government of Thailand and the Asia-Pacific Regional Office of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) was featured in a nation TV report with the focus on approaches to land degradation and the role of organic soil carbon in sustainable land management.