Final Report of the 26th Witzenhausen Conference "The Last Dirt - Soil Protection in Politics and Practice".

As a habitat, nutrient and water reservoir, soil is the basis of our life.  It cannot be built up in human time; two centimeters of soil take about 500 years, so it is a limited resource.  However, there is often a lack of awareness of this, and so we lose 24 billion tons of fertile soil worldwide every year due to incorrect management and overuse. Can anything be done about it? Who bears the responsibility? What do successful concepts and measures in agricultural practice look like in order to improve the usual procedures? These were the questions explored at the Witzenhausen conference from Dec. 4-8, 2018.

The mornings offered exciting lectures, and the afternoons continued with diverse workshops. After an introduction with improvisational theater, a lecture on the connection between art and the topic of soil by Prof. Dr. Wessolek, TU Berlin, and a "hummus" tasting the evening before, the first conference day focused on political and social aspects of soil protection. Dr. Luca Montanarella, head of the research unit "Soil Data and Soil Information System"  of the EU Commission presented impressively the situation of soil erosion, nutrient leaching and soil protection measures in different countries of the EU, Uwe Greff, BioBodengenossenschaft, gave an overview of actors and activities on the soil market in Germany and reassured that one cannot speak of "land grabbing" in Germany per se. Anja Banzhaf, Citizens' Initiative for a Livable Neu-Eichenberg, reported on the background of a logistics area planned near Witzenhausen on prime farmland and the reasons for her opposition to it. In the afternoon, various workshops dealt in depth with further legal issues and alternatives, such as "Alternatives on the land market",  "Soil can only be protected if you have soil" or "Soil protection versus homeland protection - right-wing radical ideas in organic farming".

On the second day, the practice and research of soil protection were introduced by Prof. Dr. Birgit Wilhelm, FH Erfurt, . She appealed to start a dialogue between conservationists and farmers in order to create framework conditions that allow real freedom of action in a soil-conserving and thus sustainable agriculture. Subsequently, Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Rainer Horn, University of Kiel, presented a concept for possible limit values for mechanical soil stress during cultivation and driving, which can prevent soil degradation due to compaction. Profound regeneration takes decades to centuries, which is why  precautionary soil protection is particularly important, Horn said. However, soils can recover surprisingly quickly after the loss of the original soil landscape, as Dr. Dirk Knoche, Forschungsinstitut für Bergbaufolgelandschaften e.V., illustrated using the example of the Lusatian lignite mining area. The afternoon workshops covered, among other things, "Building soil with agroforestry systems," as well as the question, "How do I evaluate my soil?" The effects of tire pressure on soil structure could be illustrated in an experiment, and there was also an excursion to the Tannenhof farm in Bebra, which farms with working horses in a way that protects the soil.

The third day continued the discussion on practice and research with a lecture by Prof. Dr. Kurt-Jürgen Hülsbergen on the functions of humus. Using humus balances from various  organic and conventional farms, he explained which factors affect humus reserves in the soil and how a balanced humus balance can be achieved. On the other hand, Prof. Dr. Rainer Jörgensen and Prof. Dr. Maria Finckh, both from the University of Kassel, explained how the effects of glyphosate on soil life and plants differ. While the effect on soil microorganisms is lower than often assumed due to resistance, the susceptibility of plants to soil-borne diseases, for example, is increased. Dr. Ruth Freitag from the University of Bayreuth made clear in her presentation how great the need for research is on the effects of microplastics in soils and compost. In the afternoon, the possible nutrient supply in biocyclic-vegan agriculture was presented, among other things, and there were also insights into the "Green Bridge System" and the "Potentials of sustainable grazing for soil fertility, biodiversity and climate". The fourth day was themed "Getting active at all levels" and was started by Francesco Citarda and Vito Mazzara, who presented the initiative Libera Terra from Southern Italy and its success in returning land from mafia hands to the ownership of farmers. After the lecture of Dr. Hildegard Kurt, Institute for Art, Culture and Sustainability in Berlin, which was dedicated to the common linguistic origin of 'humus' and 'human' and the resulting meaning  for a sustainable society, a summary of the past days followed by Prof. Dr. Stephan Peth. As a soil scientist and supervisor of the conference, he was enthusiastic about how great the interest in the topic is and how diverse the possibilities are to look at it.

The crowning finale was the action of a human chain afterwards, which set an unmistakable sign with a "red line" against the potential land sealing by the planned "special logistics area" in Neu-Eichenberg, near Witzenhausen. Despite the cold, almost a thousand people took part in the demonstration, with around 30 tractors completing the picture. 

The conference contents were rounded off by a varied supporting program, which gave the opportunity each evening to look at the soil from different perspectives. On Wednesday evening, wine tasting provided an opportunity to see, smell and taste the effects of different soils in Riesling, . Next door, the participants* could feel the soil with yoga. At the concert with Konny Kleinkunztpunk on Thursday, the floor was set in vibration while dancing and singing along. On Friday evening, a poetry slam on the topic of sustainability took place at Capitolkino Witzenhausen. Seven slammers performed texts full of wit, exciting stories and emotion, which sometimes made people think, sometimes made the hall and the floor shake with laughter. Afterwards, the International Students' Club of Witzenhausen opened its doors to all those who wanted to continue celebrating.

The conference, organized by students, is explicitly aimed at interested guests and practitioners, and the backgrounds of the participants were correspondingly diverse. In addition to students, there were representatives of initiatives, institutes and organizations from all over Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The wide range of experience of those present enriched the conference in many discussions and conversations and shortened the breaks. The visitors and the organizing team agreed that the 26th Witzenhausen Conference succeeded in proving that soil is anything but "the last dirt"! 

In April the conference proceedings will be published, in which the lectures and workshops are summarized. Orders can be placed via konferenz-witzenhausen.de.

By Antonia Ley