Six Inches of Soil - The Podcast
Oct 23, 2026 · 1 hr 7 min · 14 segments
**EPISODE 20 Un-Herd of Benefits: Regenerative grazing restores soil health** - **Host/Producer:** Richard Tufton - **Co-host/Producer:** Claire Mackenzie - **Editor:** Meg Chatham - **Score:** Matt…
Jason RowntreeGuestMatt WyethGuest
Leigh Ann WinowieckiGuestRichard TuftonHostClaire MackenzieHostSilas Hedley LawrenceGuestLynley WyethGuest
And I think our colleagues from New Zealand really highlight how soil is this invisible ecosystem beneath our feet on which we depend so greatly and demand so much.

For the last 20 years, we have implemented the land degradation surveillance framework.

I just am so inspired when people are talking numbers because the idea is that we must generate this much needed evidence to inform innovation.

implementation, like everyone has mentioned, also policy, also financing.

We can't just let it sit on a desk, right? So I think we're all talking about how we're actually using these data.

One of the things that's been really important and critical to the success of the land degradation surveillance framework, LDSF, is that all the tools are simple to use, can be manufactured in a market in Madagascar, in Kenya, in New Zealand.

You don't need fancy probes and also has a very robust sampling design.

What does that mean? You drive to the first point and then walk to the remaining plot.

So you do 10 plots in one And when you're there, you collect the soil sample.

You look at the perennial grasses, the annual grasses, the forbs, the trees.



biodiversity and manage productivity and then we can look at biodiversity so i don't know really what it's like in new zealand but in northern kenya here ethiopia across east africa invasive species are really a problem and so it's incredibly important that we do these assessments of biodiversity in terms of vegetation so we can look at pioneer species invasive species indicator species so So what we found is across these 46 countries, the most degraded, highest soil erosion occurred in the drylands in the rangelands.

This has actually woken up donors, communities, and a lot of rangeland restoration projects are ongoing in East Africa, where I'm based, and this is really exciting.

And what C4ECraft, what we are doing in these projects is the monitoring, right? So tracking what's working, Where, for whom, and at what cost? Because just rolling out and implementing initiatives without monitoring it could have negative effects.


And I think our colleagues from New Zealand really highlight how soil is this invisible ecosystem beneath our feet on which we depend so greatly and demand so much.

For the last 20 years, we have implemented the land degradation surveillance framework.

I just am so inspired when people are talking numbers because the idea is that we must generate this much needed evidence to inform innovation.

implementation, like everyone has mentioned, also policy, also financing.

We can't just let it sit on a desk, right? So I think we're all talking about how we're actually using these data.

One of the things that's been really important and critical to the success of the land degradation surveillance framework, LDSF, is that all the tools are simple to use, can be manufactured in a market in Madagascar, in Kenya, in New Zealand.

You don't need fancy probes and also has a very robust sampling design.

What does that mean? You drive to the first point and then walk to the remaining plot.

So you do 10 plots in one And when you're there, you collect the soil sample.

You look at the perennial grasses, the annual grasses, the forbs, the trees.



biodiversity and manage productivity and then we can look at biodiversity so i don't know really what it's like in new zealand but in northern kenya here ethiopia across east africa invasive species are really a problem and so it's incredibly important that we do these assessments of biodiversity in terms of vegetation so we can look at pioneer species invasive species indicator species so So what we found is across these 46 countries, the most degraded, highest soil erosion occurred in the drylands in the rangelands.

This has actually woken up donors, communities, and a lot of rangeland restoration projects are ongoing in East Africa, where I'm based, and this is really exciting.

And what C4ECraft, what we are doing in these projects is the monitoring, right? So tracking what's working, Where, for whom, and at what cost? Because just rolling out and implementing initiatives without monitoring it could have negative effects.

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