NEST

Nature, Environment, Sustainability & Transformation

sustainable agriculture

7 Brilliant Ideas to Restore Your Degraded Soil

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Is your soil suffering from erosion, compaction, or nutrient depletion? At NEST, we believe healthy soil is fundamental for sustainable farming, biodiversity, and ecological balance. Here are seven practical and accessible tips to bring your soil back to life:

  1. Cover Crops: Plant cover crops like clover, vetch, or oats to shield your soil from erosion, improve its structure, and enhance organic matter.
  2. Composting and Organic Matter: Regularly add compost or well-aged manure to enrich your soil with essential nutrients and beneficial microorganisms.
  3. Minimal or No-Tillage Farming: Reduce intensive tilling to avoid compaction and soil degradation. Conservation agriculture helps maintain soil integrity and natural fertility.
  4. Crop Rotation: Rotate different crops to interrupt pest and disease cycles, boost soil biodiversity, and optimise nutrient use.
  5. Using Biochar: Incorporate biochar (charcoal) into your soil to increase water and nutrient retention and reduce soil acidity.
  6. Plant Trees and Shrubs: Employ agroforestry or establish hedgerows to reduce erosion, enhance drainage, and promote biodiversity.
  7. Effective Microorganisms (EM): Apply natural microbial preparations to revitalise your soil’s biological activity, fostering recovery and balance.

Restoring degraded soil takes time and persistence, but these methods will help you transform your land into a fertile, productive, and sustainable space.

Want to learn more about soil care and restoration? Follow our blog and become part of the NEST community!

What Is Soil Bulk Density and Why Should You Care?

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Soil bulk density is, quite simply, the mass of dry soil solids per unit volume, expressed in kg/dm³ (or g/cm³). It reveals how tightly the soil particles—sand, silt and clay—are packed together, including the pore spaces between them. A higher bulk density means the soil is more compacted and less porous; a lower bulk density indicates a looser, more sponge-like structure that can hold water and air more readily.

A Down-to-Earth Analogy

BulkDensity_Example

Imagine two jars of marbles. One jar is loosely filled, with plenty of gaps between the marbles; the other is shaken until the marbles settle as tightly as possible. The first jar mimics soil with low bulk density—lots of pore space—while the second jar represents soil with high bulk density, where the particles are closely packed and water struggles to infiltrate.

How It Matters to Farmers

Consider three practical scenarios that illustrate bulk density’s importance:

  1. Tillage and Compaction
    • Suppose a field of winter wheat has a bulk density of 1.60 kg/dm³ in the top 5 cm. After a 20 mm irrigation, water drains through in under two hours—far too quickly for optimal root uptake.
    • By subsoiling and reducing bulk density to 1.30 kg/dm³, the same field might retain moisture for six hours, helping roots stay hydrated and boosting yield by up to 12 %.
  2. Irrigation Scheduling
    • A sandy, dense soil (1.55 kg/dm³) at 15 cm depth may only hold 10 % of its volume in water, necessitating irrigation every three days.
    • In contrast, a loam with lower bulk density (1.25 kg/dm³) can retain 25 % water, allowing irrigation intervals of five to six days—a potential 30 % annual water saving.
  3. Machinery Traffic
    • Each pass of a 12-tonne tractor can increase bulk density by 0.20 kg/dm³ down to 20 cm depth.
    • By restricting machinery to permanent wheelings and avoiding multiple passes over the same line, farmers can limit soil compaction and preserve structure.

Why Scientists Value Bulk Density

Bulk density underpins models of erosion, hydrology and climate interactions:

  • Erosion Risk: On a 15 ° slope, soils over 1.6 kg/dm³ might generate 40 % more surface runoff and lose up to five tonnes of sediment per hectare in a 30 mm storm than soils at 1.2 kg/dm³.
  • Carbon Sequestration: Denser soils store less organic matter, reducing CO₂ sequestration potential by around 15 % over decades.
  • Water Balance: Incorporating bulk density into groundwater recharge models refines aquifer yield forecasts and helps urban planners gauge subsidence risks where heavy landscaping is common.
Measuring_Bulk_Density
Measuring_Bulk_Density

Introducing the Soil Bulk Density GeoViewer

To bridge the gap between soil science and practical fieldwork, we’ve developed an interactive Bulk Density GeoViewer that brings bulk density maps straight to your fingertips. Rather than wrestling with printed charts or abstract numbers, this tool displays real-time bulk density data overlaid on a familiar street-map backdrop, so you can:

  • Instantly locate yourself in the field via your browser or mobile device’s GPS.
  • Visualise bulk density in the top 0–5 cm of soil using SoilGrids’ high-resolution WMS service.
  • Adjust transparency on the fly with a simple slider, letting you compare subsurface data against roads, boundaries or other map layers.
  • Refer to an intuitive legend that uses a green-to-blue colour ramp—mirroring the soil’s compaction levels—so even non-experts can interpret the map at a glance.
  • See the scale bar for quick distance checks and activate the measurement tool to calculate areas in hectares or distances in metres.

By combining geolocation, real-time WMS imagery and user-friendly controls, the GeoViewer empowers both farmers and researchers to:

  • Pinpoint zones of excessive compaction that may benefit from targeted subsoiling.
  • Monitor how bulk density evolves over time—before and after tillage or heavy machinery traffic.
  • Plan irrigation schedules based on precise, location-specific soil porosity.
  • Share customised views with agronomists or colleagues via a simple link.

Ready to unlock your soil’s hidden potential?

Access our free Soil Bulk Density GeoViewer now—no downloads, no fees, just instant insights. Click below to start exploring your land’s compaction patterns and make smarter, data-driven decisions today!

Bulk Density

Understanding Saline Soils: A Practical Guide for Farmers

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What does it mean for soil to be saline?

Imagine watering your plants, and afterwards, you notice a whitish residue on the soil, as if someone had sprinkled salt over it. This is because there really is salt in the soil. We refer to soils with a high concentration of dissolved salts as saline soils. This can happen for various reasons, such as using saline irrigation water, intrusion of saline water, or simply because the location naturally has high salt content. This is more common in areas with low rainfall and high heat, as the water evaporates but the salts remain.

Why is soil salinity a problem for plants?

The presence of high salt levels in the soil can be problematic because it makes it difficult for plants to absorb water and nutrients properly. This weakens them, interferes with their growth, and in severe cases, can even kill them. Plants in saline soils often appear wilted, have burnt tips on their leaves, and show stunted growth.

Plants that indicate saline soils

Some plants can not only tolerate salinity but also signal that a soil is saline. Here are a few of them:

Salicornia europaea
Salicornia europaea
  • Salicornia: Also known as glasswort or sea asparagus (Salicornia europaea), this succulent green plant is typical of coastal and saline zones.
  • Atriplex: Known as saltbush, these plants can thrive in highly saline soils and are often used to rehabilitate degraded lands.
  • Suaeda: Often called sea blite (Suaeda maritima), this is another plant that adapts well to saline conditions and helps indicate their presence.
  • Juncus: These reeds are commonly found in brackish areas and are good indicators of salinity (Juncus acutus).

Additionally, utilising plants with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, a type of fungus that forms symbiotic relationships with plant roots, can be an effective strategy to enhance plant growth in these challenging soils.

Tips for managing saline soils

Atriplex halimus
Atriplex halimus
  1. Early identification: Learning to recognise plants that indicate salinity can help you take action before the problem seriously affects your crops.
  2. Improving drainage: Ensuring that your soil has good drainage can help wash away salts.
  3. Using amendments: Materials like gypsum can help displace salts and improve soil structure.

Conclusion

Recognizing and understanding saline soils is crucial for any farmer or land manager. By observing which types of plants are growing in your fields and how they respond, you can gain valuable insights into the health of your soil and take steps to improve its quality and the productivity of your crops. This guide is not only a starting point for better managing saline soils but also a way to promote more sustainable and effective agricultural practices.

Why Organisations Like NEST Matter More Than Ever

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Let’s be honest — we’re facing some of the biggest environmental challenges in human history. Climate is shifting in ways we can’t ignore. Soils, once rich and alive, are losing their strength. And rural communities? Many are fading, slowly but surely. In the middle of this picture, organisations like NEST (Nature, Environment, Sustainability & Transformation) are not just relevant — they’re essential.

What sets NEST apart isn’t just its mission — it’s how they’re putting it into action. They’re not throwing around buzzwords or sticking to old formulas. They’re actually blending cutting-edge science, clean energy and local wisdom to find solutions that make sense in real life. Think solar panels working side by side with crops, training farmers to regenerate their soil, or building seed libraries to preserve traditional varieties for the future.

But maybe the most powerful thing? NEST listens. They work with the land, not just on it. They partner with communities rather than imposing solutions. And they know that change doesn’t come from one big idea — it grows, bit by bit, through education, shared knowledge and real, honest collaboration.

We need more of that. More of them.

Because climate action isn’t abstract. It’s here, it’s now — and it’s local. And it’s through initiatives like NEST that we can start to rebuild a more resilient, fair and sustainable relationship with our environment.

What Are Ecosystem Services – And Why Are They at the Heart of Our Environmental Future?

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In the midst of a climate crisis, more and more voices are calling for a real, deep, and long-term green transition. But that transformation cannot happen without understanding a key concept: ecosystem services. In other words, all the benefits nature provides us for free that support our daily lives — from the air we breathe to the food on our plates.

What types of ecosystem services exist?

Ecosystem services are grouped into four main categories:

  • Provisioning services: These are the tangible products we obtain from nature, such as fresh water, crops, timber, and medicinal plants.
  • Regulating services: Natural processes that help regulate environmental conditions, including air and water purification, pest control, and climate regulation.
  • Supporting services: These are the foundation for all other services — like soil formation, nutrient cycling, and pollination.
  • Cultural services: The non-material benefits ecosystems offer, such as recreation, ecotourism, cultural heritage, and spiritual value.

Real-life examples that are already making a difference

The concept may sound abstract, but in practice, it has very real implications. In several Spanish cities, for instance, urban green spaces are being expanded with native trees to combat heatwaves. These areas don’t just improve aesthetics — they lower local temperatures, filter pollutants, and manage stormwater runoff more effectively.

In southern agricultural regions, some farms are reintroducing living hedgerows and flower strips to attract pollinators. This boosts crop productivity without relying on chemicals, while also supporting local biodiversity.

Wetlands are another key example — acting as natural water purifiers and helping to prevent floods. Their preservation is not just about wildlife: it directly impacts the water security of thousands of people.

A new way of seeing the land

Understanding and valuing ecosystem services is not just the job of scientists or policymakers. It requires a shift in mindset that includes all of us. It means recognising that healthy ecosystems aren’t a luxury — they are the foundation of our health, economy, and overall quality of life.

This is why more and more initiatives are now embracing land management models that incorporate ecosystem services into planning and design. Restoring forests, protecting agricultural soils, or conserving wetlands is no longer seen as a cost — but as an investment with ecological, economic, and social returns.