My Story: Mastering Soil and Land Health Evaluation process.

Conservation photography has been an incredible journey over the past seven years, with each assignment feeling like a masterclass in some way. In 2023, I had the opportunity to interact with amazing individuals working with soils—yes, soils! When I reminisce about soils, I can't help but recall how my mum used to give me 'that look' for returning home covered in dirt and soil. However, after this remarkable assignment, I now see soil through a different lens. There's so much more to soil than meets the eye!

At first, everything seemed unfamiliar to me. I could only focus on the array of tools being used, trying to recall what I had learned in my agriculture class. Fortunately, my background in wildlife management proved to be invaluable in grasping the activities unfolding before me.

At the core of this initiative lies the focus on restoring Forests and Landscapes. These holistic strategies, not only enhance conservation efforts but also spark a movement for climate action across targeted regions in Kenya. It's a unified push for local empowerment to drive significant change

The new initiative is backed by the UK PACT program is addressing climate change through nature-based solutions. This comprehensive approach prioritizes Forest and Landscape Restoration strategies, focusing on policy improvements, institutional enhancements, and rigorous monitoring. It's a united effort that involves community participation and technological advancements, while also strengthening the capabilities of local forestry associations.

A critical element of this initiative is the 2023 Land Degradation Surveillance Framework (LDSF), a robust approach to evaluating soil and land health. This framework's multi-scale data collection methods, combining field observations and advanced analytics, play a pivotal role in monitoring changes and evaluating rehabilitation measures over time. By focusing on crucial indicators such as vegetation cover and soil characteristics and employing techniques like mid-infrared spectroscopy for soil analysis, it facilitates informed decision-making for effective land restoration.

The LDSF has been implemented in 40 countries across the world ; see the map below

By applying a multi-scale approach, the framework can be used to conduct robust statistical analysis and inference, including spatial assessments and predictive maps with a high level of accuracy. These outputs can in turn be used to improve the targeting and design of land management, including land restoration efforts and to monitor the effectiveness of different practices in terms of meeting restoration targets and ensuring sustainability.

Embarking on this assignment meant delving into the depths of understanding every intricate step needed to carry out the initiative, leading to a fascinating exploration that illuminated the invaluable significance of soils.

Here, I present a comprehensive guide on navigating the LDSF (Land Degradation Surveillance Framework):

The LDSF Measures multiple indicators at the same geo-referenced location. This indicators include vegetation cover and structure, tree, shrub and grass species diversity, current and historic land use, infiltration capacity, soil characteristics and land degradation status.

The field process demands considerable resilience, involving long walks and extensive collaboration with landowners, community members, and scientists. Here are the faces of the incredible team I met during my time at the Lumo Conservancy in Kenya.

All data collected in the field are subjected to advanced data analytics and robust statistical analysis . This is where the mastery of the soil and land health are unearthed, the soil samples are analysed using mid-infrared (MIR) spectroscopy, to predict key soil properties such as soil organic carbon, total nitrogen, pH, base cations and texture.

From the field the soil are packed and labeled indicating the location where the soil was collected and whether its the top soil or sub soil.

Here we go... so once the soil has arrived in the lab, the soils are subjected to some steps to reveal the soil secrets and the the health of the land.

All soil samples collected using the Land Degradation Surveillance Framework are processed in the following way to ensure integrity and homogeneity of the sample. 

Soil fragmentation

The process begins by recording all received sample details, into provided Excel forms. Large soil clods/particles are first broken into smaller particles to aid the drying process and remove any obvious plant material.

Soil Sample Drying 

The labelled soil samples are taken into the Dry room to dehumidify the soils until  a constant weight is obtained. The dry weight is then measured.

All samples are recorded according to the LDSF, with details such as Site, Cluster, Plot, Depth Code and Date of sampling. The sample labels MUST always remain with the samples throughout the processing protocol. The total air-dried weight of the soil sample must also be recorded.

Soil Processing

The air-dried soil sample is then poured and spread onto a clean plastic sheet on a stable table. A wooden rolling pin is used to crush the sample.During crushing, any remaining obvious plant materials are removed.

Sieving

The crushed  sample is then passed through a 2mm stainless steel sieve . Any remaining residue is placed back onto the plastic sheet, gently crushed and repeatedly passed through the 2mm sieve until all of the soil materials are crushed, except for the gravel and rocks.

Record the weight of the remaining course fragments(greater than 2mm) into the login form. The coarse sample is then placed in a labelled bag.

Sub-Sampling Using the Quartering and Coning Technique

Spread the sieved soil sample back onto a clean plastic sheet on a stable table. Thoroughly mix the soil sample using a trowel, spoon or spatula.  Configure the soil into a conical pile. Then flatten the cone to a height of 1cm. 

Divide the pile into four quarters (along two lines intersecting 90 degrees to each other).Select one pair (two quarters) as the sample to be retained and place the 250-300g sub-sample into a labelled bag.

NB. Clean the working station to prevent cross-contamination with the next sample.

The infrared analysis method offers a fast, cost-effective, and accurate approach to analyzing various properties in soils, plants, and inputs using near and mid-infrared spectroscopy. This technique involves shining light on the samples and capturing the diffuse reflected light within the near- or mid-infrared range. The resulting spectrum yields a fingerprint of the sample’s composition.

Some of its advantages include high repeatability and precision. It is rapid and only takes approximately 30 seconds to scan a sample, enabling analysis of a significant number of samples in a single day.

In conclusion, the Land Degradation Surveillance Framework (LDSF) is an essential tool for safeguarding soil and land health across various African ecosystems. Its data driven approach provides valuable insights into soil properties, vegetation cover and land use, setting the foundation for assessing land degradation and evaluating rehabilitation efforts.This in turn supports sustainable conservation efforts, empowering our local communities and contributing to understanding nature based solutions. By accelerating climate action on climate change at local, national and international level the LDSF consequently promotes the creation of evidence-based policies that drive successful nature based solutions.

These days, when I look at soil, it's not just a nostalgic reminder of my childhood days spent playing in the dirt—surprisingly, I still love getting my hands dirty. Rather, I see it in a whole new light, recognising its crucial role in ecosystem health and its profound ability to sustain life.