National Soil Conservation Day: Keeping the land alive is the only way out of the global water crisis.

On April 15th, Brazil celebrates National Soil Conservation Day, which, in 2026, takes on an even greater sense of urgency in light of the recent UN report pointing to a global state of water resource failure. For this reason, Copaiba Environmental Association reinforces the need for soil conservation to guarantee water security for all. 

Soil as water infrastructure

The soil acts like a natural "sponge." When it is healthy, covered by native vegetation, and free from compaction, it allows rainwater to infiltrate and replenish groundwater. Without this protection, water runs off superficially, causing erosion, silting of rivers, and preventing the recharge of springs that supply cities.

According to Ana Paula Balderi, coordinator of the ecological restoration team at Copaiba, Ana Paula, who has been working for almost three decades on the restoration of the Atlantic Forest in the basins of the Peixe and Camanducaia rivers, believes that restoration is the most efficient tool to guarantee water. “Conserved soil is the largest reservoir of fresh water we have. When we degrade the land with fires, poorly managed pastures, or deforestation, we are, in practice, drying up our taps in the long term,” says Ana Paula.

Local Actions, Global Impact

The UN warning about global water scarcity highlights that traditional management, focused solely on large engineered reservoirs, is no longer sufficient. soil conservation It emerges as the most resilient nature-based solution to face periods of extreme drought and ensure food production and human consumption.

According to Ana Paula, there are four key points that need to be worked on for the soil conservation and guaranteeing water security, which are: 

• App recovery (Permanent Preservation Areas): Protection of riverbanks, preventing the silting up of rivers;
• Forest RestorationRoots help with infiltration and moisture retention;
• Sustainable Management: Techniques that prevent direct exposure and depletion of soil nutrients;
• Conservation techniques: such as contour plows, which prevent rainwater from running off the ground, controlling erosion, maintaining the fertile part of the soil and allowing greater water infiltration into the property.

THE Copaiba It highlights that soil conservation in the Camanducaia and Peixe River basins is strategic for supplying water to millions of people. The work of monitoring and supporting rural landowners in implementing conservation techniques and planting native seedlings ensures that, even in times of climate crisis, the water cycle is not interrupted. Learn more about Copaíba's restoration work by visiting our website. site.

Copaiba

THE Copaiba Environmental Association It is a non-profit Public Interest Civil Society Organization (OSCIP), based in the municipality of Socorro (SP), which has been working since 1999 with the mission of conserving and restoring the Atlantic Forest in the basins of the Peixe and Camanducaia rivers. Present in 19 municipalities in this region, the Copaiba It develops integrated actions in the areas of public policy, environmental education, production of native seedlings and ecological restoration, promoting the reconnection of people with nature and contributing to the protection of natural resources, especially water and biodiversity.