19/04/2021 Soils are essential to life on Earth. Their protection is of the utmost importance to ensure the future of agri-food systems and the provision of key ecosystem services. While there is increasing attention to the importance of biodiversity for food security and nutrition, especially above-ground biodiversity such as plants and animals, less attention is being paid to the biodiversity beneath our feet, soil biodiversity. The Global Symposium on Soil Biodiversity (19–22 April 2021) is an opportunity to strengthen FAO’s work on maintaining healthy ecosystems and ensuring human well-being by addressing the growing challenges of sustainable soil management. This book – a collection of the ten best soil biodiversity stories from the contest held on World Soil Day 2020 – aims to help spread the word among the young people on the fragility of our planet and the need to protect soil organisms.