Small creatures do great things

What would we do without worms?

“When we talk about biodiversity, we never really mention worms,” says Denis Loyer, deputy director of the French Development Agency (AFD). “But they actually have an essential role in producing food.”

Without worms, there would be no fertile lands. Worms are actually one single long digestive tube. Feeding on organic waste, they end up excreting a powerful natural fertilizer. That’s how compost heaps work!

If pesticides can be harmful to these hard-working animals, it is surprising to discover that what is really bad for them is working the land. Worms are killed by birds and by the lack of food, while UVs finish the job by destroying all other microscopic life in the soil.

“The difference is enormous: Where land is laboured, you can find up to 50 kilograms of worms per hectare against two to four tonnes on non-laboured agricultural exploitations,” says Loyer. Today, many soils are biologically dead, with no more than one per cent of organic substance.

Chemical fertilizers feed plants but do not rebuild the natural capital of soils. Moreover, worms dig tunnels in the land that allow water to penetrate deeply instead of washing away wastefully — or worse, causing floods. This is why a non-laboured agriculture is being hailed as the future solution to feeding the world.

“A project we have in Tunisia shows that the farms are just as efficient, but have reduced costs thanks to less labour and less chemicals. Moreover, in dry countries, stocking water in the soil is very important,” adds Loyer. “This kind of agriculture is growing by 15 per cent per year.”

That’s good news, and not only for worms. As a matter of fact, some climate change experts believe these shy creatures will also be on the front line tackling climate change.

One worm may be like David against the climate Goliath, but spread them around the world, and you get a result that may equal the benefit of stopping deforestation. How?

“Organic substance is basically carbon, so like trees stock carbon as they grow, increasing the quantity of organic substance in soils will develop their capacity to sequestrate carbon,” says Loyer.

And we all know there’s no one that can do that better than worms.

Darwin & worms
British naturalist Charles Darwin should be remembered for more than his theory on the evolution of the species. The last book he published in 1881 shows how, by many means, he was ahead of his time. With The Formation of Vegetable Mold Through the Action of Worms, he opened the doors of science to a seemly insignificant species: The worm.  He had friends and scientists send him samples of worm waste to analyze the benefits of this organic fertilizer. He took his job very seriously and also studied their behaviour — he even played the piano to them to test their hearing. Worms are actually deaf.