The invisible ecosystem: Soil, biodiversity, and the case for Smart Carbon Farming

When conversations depict environmental preservation, the imagery is often colorful: the dense canopy of a tropical rainforest, the architecture of a coral reef, or megafauna like the blue whale. This focus, however, overlooks the most biodiverse habitat on the planet, an ecosystem hiding in plain sight, just centimeters beneath us. 

A single teaspoon of healthy topsoil can harbor more living organisms than there are humans on Earth (FAO, 2024). Soils are estimated to be home to nearly 60% of all species on the planet, including bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and nematodes (Conservation International, 2026). These subterranean communities are responsible for nutrient cycling, water filtration, and the decomposition of organic matter, meaning soil health is the fundamental prerequisite for global biodiversity. 

However, this microscopic community is currently facing a quiet extinction. As intensive farming and agrochemical use strip soil of organic matter, the agricultural systems built on top of it become increasingly fragile (Conservation International, 2026). The scale of this loss is vast: the planet loses the equivalent to four football fields of healthy land every second (UNCCD, 2022). If current trends continue, 90% of Earth's soils could be degraded by 2050 (FAO, 2025). And because healthy topsoil takes centuries to form, it is described as a finite, non-renewable resource within any human timeframe (FAO, 2019).

A central piece of this dynamic is the loss of soil organic carbon. Over the last century, conventional farming has "mined" global soils, releasing excessive amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere (FAO, 2017). This carbon loss does not only fuel climate change; it destroys the microscopic habitats where soil-dwelling organisms live.

In alignment with this year’s World Environment Day theme, "Inspired by Nature. For Climate. For Our Future," the solution is emerging from the ground up. When individual farmers champion the land’s long-term health, the invisible biodiversity of the soil starts to come back. Scaled across regions, this transition to regenerative management can become a meaningful tool for carbon sequestration and food security.

Carbon farming sits inside the broader movement of regenerative agriculture, which seeks to actively restore ecosystem function. This goes beyond approaches that focus primarily on reducing environmental harm. Through practices such as cover cropping, reduced tillage, and agroforestry, carbon farming helps draw CO2 from the atmosphere and store it in plant biomass and soil. The benefits of this shift extend beyond carbon. Diverse cover crops feed the fungi and macroinvertebrates that maintain soil structure, and native shelter belts provide wildlife corridors and protection for livestock from heat and storms. When done well, agriculture stops being a driver of soil degradation and becomes a tool for restoration, while also storing carbon.

However, the primary hurdle is measurement. Accurate Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) is essential to prove that soil carbon is being sequestered, yet the technology remains expensive and often inaccessible to small-scale farmers.

The Smart Carbon Farming (SCF) project is working to improve access to carbon farming in North-West Europe. By developing affordable monitoring tools tailored to specific regional conditions, including peat soils and mineral soils, the project is moving MRV out of the lab and onto working farms. The tools are currently being tested on 15 pilot farms and will be complemented by training programmes that help farmers navigate carbon markets and environmental regulations. 

By giving farmers the tools to measure and manage soil health, SCF demonstrates how agriculture can shift from a cause of ecological loss to an active part of the solution - an example of how nature-inspired approaches can support climate action and help secure our future.

Sources: 

Conservation International (2026). Study: One in five soil species face extinction. https://www.conservation.org/news/study-one-in-five-soil-species-face-extinction 

FAO. (2017). Soil Organic Carbon: the hidden potential. https://openknowledge.fao.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/b382a255-5bd5-4656-a8cd-e30fff1a8bfe/content 

FAO. (2019). Stop Soil Erosion to Save Our Future. https://www.fao.org/global-soil-partnership/resources/highlights/detail/en/c/1194398/ 

FAO. (2024). Soils as a Major Reservoir of Biodiversity: Key Facts and Figures. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Biodiversity Knowledge Hub. https://www.fao.org/biodiversity/en

FAO. (2025). How healthy soils combat climate change and boost food security. https://www.fao.org/gcf/news-and-events/news-detail/how-healthy-soils-combat-climate-change-and-boost-food-security/