Relive Martine Hossaert's presentation at the seminar "Scientific Ecology and the Chemistry of Life: A Symbiosis at the Heart of Sustainable Development" at the Collège de France.

Scientific Ecology and the Chemistry of Life: A Symbiosis at the Heart of Sustainable Development” of the Collège de France.

On May 5th, Martine Hossaert, Director of the SOLU-BIOD program for the CNRS, was invited to give a presentation at the seminar “Scientific Ecology and Life Chemistry: A Symbiosis at the Heart of Sustainable Development” at the Collège de France.

She spoke there to present the essential partnership between Nature-based Solutions (NbS) and soils.

Soils and NbS

Soils are one of the fundamental pillars of biodiversity. However, they are increasingly impacted today by agricultural intensification, urban artificialization, and diffuse pollution emitted by substances produced by transportation.

The state of the soils has major repercussions on the health of numerous ecosystems around the world. These contribute notably to the preservation of biodiversity, the reduction of the effects of climate change, the regulation of the water cycle, etc. It is therefore essential to protect them.

More traditional, targeted, generic, and engineering-based solutions already exist. However, unlike these, the SfN are:

Systemic
Adaptable
Résilient
Co-constructed with the various stakeholders

Specifically, the sustainable management of soils thru NbS allows for the mitigation of carbon emissions into the atmosphere thru the restoration of peatlands, as well as the infiltration of rainwater, which helps recharge aquifers and limit erosion during extreme floods.

Find all the examples of the use of NbS in sustainable soil management here. (FR)

Thus, by relying on ecosystems, NbS today allow us to address various social, economic, and environmental challenges, while simultaneously offering human well-being, ecosystem services, ecosystem resilience, and biodiversity benefits.

Interested? Watch the replay of the intervention below!