Save Soil Walkathon — Community Fundraiser

Madison Parks is hosting a Save Soil Walkathon on Saturday, April 25, with a four-hour event at James Madison Park focused on soil protection and restoration. (cityofmadison.com) The city’s event listing sets the walkathon for 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at James Madison Park, 614 E. Gorham St. in Madison. (cityofmadison.com) The walkathon also appears in City of Madison district update posts published the week of April 20, which list it alongside other Earth Day weekend events and direct residents to city channels for details. (cityofmadison.com) Soil is the thin top layer that grows crops, stores water and holds carbon, and the Food and Agriculture Organization says more than 95 percent of food production depends on it. (fao.org) The same United Nations agency says about one-third of the world’s soils are degraded to some extent, with erosion, loss of organic carbon, salinization and compaction among the main threats. (fao.org) The Food and Agriculture Organization says erosion removes topsoil faster than it can form in many places, making that loss effectively irreversible within a human lifetime. (fao.org) The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification says land degradation is reducing soil fertility and ecosystem health worldwide, with direct effects on food security as populations grow. (unccd.int) Madison scheduled the walkathon on the same Saturday as its Earth Day Challenge park cleanups, placing soil awareness inside a broader weekend of city-backed environmental events. (cityofmadison.com) For residents, the immediate details are simple: the event starts at 11 a.m. Saturday at James Madison Park, and the city’s parks page points participants to Save Soil for additional background. (cityofmadison.com)