Volunteers around the world are banding together to restore soil. Ecosystem Restoration Camps, a Dutch nonprofit, has launched more than 20 camps on six continents to fight soil erosion. Thousands of volunteers at these camps work with local communities to demonstrate how to restore dry dirt where nothing can grow.

Centuries of overuse and deforestation have led to "salinity, acidification, and loss of biodiversity" in the Earth's soil, according to the United Nations — consequences that could render land unusable for agriculture. The UN reported that one soccer field's worth of land is lost to soil erosion every five seconds.

As climate change raises temperatures and causes more violent weather events around the globe, soil has become especially critical to environmental sustainability. Healthy soil is more efficient at capturing carbon, supporting plants, wildlife, and insects, and lessening the impact of floods and droughts.

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How These Volunteers Are Fighting Soil Erosion