http://www.fao.org/globalsoilpartnership This presentation was made during European soil partnership meeeting that took place in Rome, italy at FAO HQ 17-18 March 2015. The presentation was made by Ronald Vargas, and it has the objective to present the status of the Global Soil Partnership. ©FAO: http://www.fao.org

1. Ronald Vargas Rojas
Status of the Global
Soil Partnership

2. of our food comes
from soils

4. but our soils are in
danger…
today 2050
of our
global
soils are
degraded
and we need to
increase production
(quality and quantity)

5. sustainable soil management

7. SO2: Make agriculture, forestry and fisheries more
productive and sustainable
Major Area of Work:
- Ecosystem Services and Biodiversity
Also contributing to:
- Climate Smart Agriculture
- Doing more with less
One of the eleven Corporate Resource Mobilization
Priorities

8. Partners
400 partners: FAO members and other partners
(universities, NGOs, etc)

9. Focal Points
Second GSP Plenary Assembly endorsed the nomination of focal points by FAO
Members.
Currently 108
countries
nominated their
focal points

10. Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils

11. GSP Pillars of Action
1. Promote sustainable management of soil resources and improved global governance
for soil protection and sustainable productivity;
2. Encourage investment, technical cooperation, policy, education, awareness and
extension in soils;
3. Promote targeted soil research and development focusing on identified gaps, priorities
and synergies among economic/productive, environmental and social dimensions;
4. Enhance the quality and availability of soil data and
information: collection, analysis, validation, reporting,
monitoring, integration with other disciplines;
5. Harmonization of methods, measurements and
indicators for the sustainable management and
protection of soil resources.

12. Way forward of Plans of Action
As per the Guidelines for Plans of Action of the Rules of Procedure.
Organization of
International
workshops
Establishment of
global Working
Groups
Preparation of
Draft Plans of
Action
Review and
endorsement by
ITPS
Endorsement by
Plenary
Assembly
Implementation through
Implementation Plans at
Regional levels
RSP working on this now

13. Way forward Pillar 4 Plan of Action
Global Soil Information System
 Global grids of soil functional properties
 Global map of soil types
 Global soil profile database
Global Soil Monitoring System: SoilSTAT
 flexible design
 gradual implementation
 will fill the gap in the FAOSTAT family
Synthesis, forecasting, interpretation and capacity development
 regular reports on “Status of World Soil Resources Report”
starting in 2015.
 supply of information to global reporting mechanisms
 diverse information products available online
 continuous capacity development programme

14. Regional Soil Partnerships
• The setting up of RSPs have started in 2012 along the process of establishment of
the GSP.
• Regional activities in NENA, LAC and Asia were funded in order to start the
development and establishment of RSPs. The aim was to start with regional activities
that could pave the path to functional RSPs.
• That experience was very helpful as it showed that RSPs are viable, though every
region is very different and single model will not apply. However, guidelines for RSPs
are much needed in order to guide regions on how the RSPs will work.

15. Regional Soil Partnerships

16. Regional Soil Partnerships

17. European Soil Partnership
• Thanks to the willingness of partners, the ESP was Launched during the Second Global Soil
Week (Berlin, Germany), October 2013.
• An ad-hoc Steering Committee and Secretariat were established to guide the ESP consolidation.
• It includes a Sub-regional (EuroAsian) Soil Partnership with a Secretariat in Moscow, Russian
Federation.
• A first workshop took place on 21-23 May 2014 at Ispra, Italy where interested partners joined
to discuss about various soil issues.
• Now, with clear Guidelines on RSPs and Focal Points, there is need to consolidate the ESP.

18. EuroAsian Soil Partnership
• Launched in November 2013 in Moscow, Russian Federation as part of a Eurasian Conference
on Food Security.
• The Secretariat is hosted at the Eurasian Center for Food Security.
• Various e-consultations about the issue of soil management in the region, specially related to
salinity. Efforts for identifying priorities for developing the Implementation Plan of the region as
per the GSP Pillars.
• An EASP workshop was implemented in September 2014, RIP. Next meeting: 15-17 June 2015,
Izmir, Turkey
Moscow, Russia
19 November 2013

19. - Updated World Soil Charter (just endorsed by 150 FAO Council)
- Establishment of Regional Soil Partnerships (all regions)
- Support to develop capacities on soils in the various regions
- Establishment of the Healthy Soils Facility
- Advocacy for inclusion of soils in the SDG
- Preparation of the Status of World Soil Resources Report
- Important work of the Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils
- World Soil Day and International Year of Soils 2015
Main Achievements

21. HEALTHY SOILS FACILITY
PGM/MUL/2014-2018/GSP
• Umbrella programme/Facility was already established in 2014.
• A programmatic budget of USD64 mil and 5 years of implementation
period;
• Current Resource partners: European Commission (1,3 million USD),
Thailand (100,000 USD), Switzerland (100,000USD) and International
Fertilizers Association(58,00USD).
• Potential future contribution under discussions

23. Beyond 2015