Soil health: Policy, science and law in action

Area of Study: Sustainable Agriculture, Soil Health

Key Links

| Scientific American

Year

2023

Status

Completed

Principal Investigators

, ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ Land Institute, Research Director
, M.A., LL.M, Director, ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ Land Institute

Collaborators

Sukhwinder Singh, Research Coordinator, Project Lead

Overview

Interest in Canada's soil health and its strong links to climate change adaptation and resilience has dramatically increased over the past several years. Despite this rising interest, soil health continues to be significantly undervalued and under-protected by society.

Research and knowledge produced through this work sought to improve decision-making among key stakeholders and policymakers, as well as improve farming practices in the soil health field. Four activities were developed to carry out these goals:

  1. Legal and policy review with an ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ focus
  2. Community Resource Guide focused on urban soil health to improve soil literacy among landowners, homeowners and public audiences
  3. Workshop/information sharing to discuss soil health efforts in ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥
  4. Call for Proposals to protect and improve soil health quality

This project is made possible in part through a grant from the ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ Real Estate Foundation. (The ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ Real Estate Foundation invests in real estate policy, research, practices, and education that strengthen ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥’s communities. The Foundation’s revenues come from the interest earned on public money deposited in real estate brokers’ pooled trust accounts. Learn more at

Documents and Publications

Published by Dr. Eran Kaplinsky (Lead Researcher) for ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ Land Institute:
Assessing Property Rights and Land Use in ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥

Published by David Poulton (Lead Researcher) for ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ Land Institute:
In-lieu Payments and Fees as a Mechanism of Environmental Compensation

The Application of Property Rights in Ecosystem Service Markets