An artist has set a record for the world’s largest soil painting as he bids to raise awareness of how important the material is.

The UK-based Official Record Breakers has verified that organisation Save Soil had surpassed the previous best of 59,458 sq cm (about 64 sq ft), with the new painting measuring 61,000 sq cm (about 65 sq ft).

Phil Lambert, who lives in Cardiff, used four types of soil and an upcycled wooden frame and canvas supplied by Oxford Wood Recycling.

The artwork was created to raise awareness of the movement’s call for soil regeneration to be prioritised at the 31st UN Climate Change Conference (COP).

Save Soil is pushing for improvement of soil health around the world and works with governments to shape policies on the subject.

The painting, which Lambert created at University College London (UCL), follows its new report, which outlines the importance of healthy soils and steps for their restoration.

Lambert said he had been using soil for about 10 years and painting with it “is something I’ve been very familiar with”.

As well as using soil from his garden and some from his mother’s home, the artist also received donations from the James Hutton Institute in Scotland.

“I did have a motive in my mind of this tree and hedge and field,” he said.

Through his work with scientists, Lambert said he had been taught about the “perils and the needs of soil”.

“If you go back to the fields you were walking in when you were young, you will notice that there is a thinner soil on there and there’s more rock on the surface,” he said.

UK Save Soil spokesperson Henry Asplin called the painting “a visual call to action”.

“Soil is the planet’s quiet infrastructure and one of our greatest climate solutions, yet it remains largely invisible in national climate plans,” he said.

Mark Maslin, climate scientist and professor at UCL, said healthy soils “regulate water, store carbon, and underpin biodiversity and food systems”.

“…protecting and restoring soil must sit at the heart of every nation’s climate strategy if we are serious about limiting warming and securing a liveable future,” he added.

Jennifer Robinson, from Abingdon-based Oxford Wood Recycling, said looking after the environment was “at the heart” of its work.

She said the company collected wood from several sites across Oxfordshire.

“I myself come from a farming background, so … I think [Save Soil]’s cause and what they’re trying to do is absolutely crucial,” she said.

Robinson said she had been noticing changes in the colour of soil locally.

“We’re all seeing massive cracks as we’re out walking and the areas where there are more plants and more trees, the soil is less exposed and evidently healthier.”