What is Soil?

Soil is the loose material that covers the land made up of organic matter, living organisms, minerals, water, and gas. 

What are the different soil types?

There are 10 soil types that occur in Ireland. 

• • Brown Earths, 

  • Brown Podzolics, 

  • Podzols, 

  • Gleys, 

  • Grey Brown Podzolics, 

  • Rendzinas, 

  • Regosols, 

  • Lithosols, 

  • Blanket peats and Basin peats.

The most common of these being Brown Earth soils, found in the Midland and the East, and good for agriculture. 

Soil can also be split into 4 textures; Sandy, Clay, Loam, and Peat. 

Soil map of Ireland 

Why is soil so important?

• Soils represent an invaluable resource for Ireland by providing environmental, societal, and economic benefits to the country. 

• It grows our food, filters our water, regulates the climate by storing carbon, and helps prevent natural disasters like flooding.  

• Healthy soils are essential in achieving climate neutrality, reversing biodiversity loss, providing healthy food and safeguarding human health.

Why is soil endangered?

• Human activity puts our soil at risk due to erosion. 

• So far 1/3 of the worlds soil is already degraded, losing its ability to support life, by pollution, deforestation, urbanization, and climate change. 

What is soil health?

• Soil health is the ability of the soil to function as an ecosystem in order to sustain plant and animal life. 

• The principals of soil health include;

  • minimizing soil disturbance, 

  • ensuring plant diversity with continual live roots, 

  • protecting the soil with ground cover.