Protecting Soil from Deterioration: A Journey

Nathalie Massé was in Nevers on Tuesday, with her bike and her head full of memories of an 8,000 km journey, started on June 21, 2022 from Toulon, and completed on January 29, 2023 in Coimbatore (India).

But why such a challenge for this child psychologist by profession? “It was when I saw Sadhguru (Jaggi Vasudev), who dreamed up the Save Soil movement, take a 30,000 km motorbike trip from London to India crossing twenty-seven countries, raising awareness of because of the soil, that I became aware of the state of the latter”, abounds Nathalie Massé. “I lived seven years in the Amazon and I know how important it is to take care of nature. Agricultural soils need 3 to 6% organic matter in order to be healthy and sustainable. I have seen some farms on my journey go from 1 to 3% on their soil thanks to a lot of permaculture work, tree planting, use of compost”, adds the one who achieved this challenge with 50 kg of equipment on his bike.

And this approach was welcomed with optimism and interest wherever the 50-year-old went. “People were always very attentive to the problems encountered by the soils. It was also a marvelous human adventure. Very often, I found refuge with the locals to pitch my tent, some hotels even offered a room for the night. These meetings and this humanity were my driving force to continue and complete this journey. »

A journey therefore completed on January 29, and a return by plane to Paris on March 11.

Raising children’s awareness

The adventure is not, however, over. “I came down from Paris by bike and I expect to arrive in Toulon at the end of April. I take this opportunity to travel around France and raise awareness of the cause of the deterioration of our soils. An epilogue to this journey that Nathalie Massé imagines continuing, for example, by writing a book on the subject for children, in order to raise awareness among future generations.