Discover the world beneath our feet

It might come as a surprise to many, but there is more diversity of life in one teaspoon of soil than in the whole of the Amazonian rainforest! Even the cold and inhospitable Antarctic soils are capable of supporting a fragile but well-adapted soil biodiversity.

Our soils are teeming with life, from near 'invisible' bacteria and microscopic invertebrates to larger invertebrates like ants, beetles and earthworms.

Soil organisms break down pollutants, recycle nutrients and more fundamentally they control most of the ecosystem services that underpin the sustainability of both economically productive and natural ecosystems.

Going underground

Soil biodiversity is central to sustaining our ecosystems

The trouble with soil

Various pressures on our soils can affect it and its biodiversity