ITPS | 10th Working Session of the Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils. 13 - 17 May 2019 | FAO headquarters

1. Economic benefits of
Sustainable Soil
Management
Zineb Bazza

2. 1) Advances on the Global Soil Biodiversity Assessment
Convention on Biological Diversity - Decision 14/30
23. Invites the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations, in collaboration with other organizations and subject to the
availability of resources, to consider the preparation of a report on
the state of knowledge on soil biodiversity covering current status,
challenges and potentialities and to make it available for
consideration by the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and
Technological Advice at a meeting held prior to the fifteenth meeting
of the Conference of the Parties. (e.g. May 2020)
Mandate:

3. Advances to date:
1) Development of zero-draft concept note of the Status of Knowledge on Soil Biodiversity
assessment including tentative outline structure/content and process/timelines
2) Invitation of five institutions (CBD, ITPS, GSBI, EC, IPBES) as possible collaborators.
3) Organization of 1st Planning Meeting with representatives of collaborating institutions to
discuss comments to zero-draft concept note as well as process and timelines.
4) Circulation of 1st Planning Meeting report to participating institutions. Integration
of report’s recommendations into the last version of concept note.
5) Consolidation of roster of experts to be considered as possible chapter and section
leads.

4. Concept Note: Report of ‘The state of knowledge on soil biodiversity’
Background:
Annotated Tentative Outline of the Table of Contents of the Report
(Draft zero v.3 – 8 May 2019)
Executive summary
[Including key messages]
Publishing details
[Editorial Board, Contributors, Acknowledgments, Image and graphic credits)]
Glossary
1. Introduction
[Soils provide one of the largest reservoirs of biodiversity on earth, and soil organisms play key
roles in the delivery of many ecosystems services. Little is known about the number of species
required to maintain core soil functions, but new tools for biochemical techniques and DNA
analysis suggest significant progress in this area is possible. Overview presenting the soil as part
of a broader perspective that highlights why should we worry?. This broader perspective could
also highlight multiple benefits and the “risk” of “missing out” on these benefits if they are not
well understood or if the challenges are not addressed. The One Health approach proposed as
an interesting model to consider]

5. Mandate
[Request by CBD to FAO to elaborate the report concerning the state of knowledge on soil
biodiversity, in collaboration with other relevant organizations]
Justification
[Soil biodiversity is under threat. Intensive land use, excessive use of fertilizers, heavy tillage,
the use of pesticides, contamination with heavy metals, severe droughts and temperature rise
lead to low levels of biodiversity in degraded lands. Growing concerns about the limited
attention paid to soil biodiversity during the formulation of policy recommendations to guide
the transformative changes required for the transition to sustainable food and agricultural
systems. A number of opportunities have emerged from different conventions where soil
biodiversity can play a significant role. For example, soil biodiversity contributes to soil
functions underpinning soil carbon storage enhancement which is the basis of the 4 per mille
initiative launched during COP21]

6. Aim, Scope and Rationale for the report
The goal of the report is to provide a comprehensive synthesis of the state of knowledge on
soil biodiversity, and highlight the important contributions of soil biodiversity to face key
global challenges and the challenges to overcome to reap the full benefits derived from those
contributions. There is increasing consensus that the importance of soil biodiversity in
supporting life on the planet is not well understood by society. The little dialogue between
the soil ecology communities and policy makers, the general-public and other stakeholders is
largely responsible for this unfamiliarity. The objective of this report is to inform government
officials, policy makers, researchers, academia, development partners, civil society and private
sector about the importance of the living soil for sustainable existence of life on Earth,
including humanity. Divided into 6 chapters, the report first introduces the aim, scope and
rationale for the assessment report. Following this, it synthetizes the status of global and
regional state of knowledge on soil biodiversity. It then examines policy questions concerning
key sustainability challenges faced by national institutions and global fora, highlighting key
threats and promising interventions designed to overcome challenges and optimize
ecosystem services provided by soil biodiversity. Next, existing policy, education and outreach
efforts supporting soil biodiversity are described, followed by a section on challenges and
opportunities, and concludes with the summary for policy makers, where the broader benefits
of soil biodiversity to society and the planet are linked to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development and other UN Conventions.
Process conducted to develop the report
[Description of development process, involvement of stakeholders, peer review, …]

7. 2. Global state of knowledge on soil biodiversity (lead author: xxxx)
2.1. Introduction
2.2. Diversity of species
2.2.1. Phenotypic diversity
2.2.2. Genetic diversity
2.2.3. Functional diversity
2.3. Soil biodiversity and ecosystem functioning
2.3.1. Biomass production
2.3.2. Carbon transformations
2.3.3. Nutrient cycling
2.3.4. Soil structure modification
2.3.5. Biological population regulation
2.3.6 …..
2.4.Spatial and temporal distribution of soil organisms
2.4.1. Spatial distribution
2.4.1.1. Continental scale
2.4.1.2. Regional scale
2.4.1.3. Landscape scale (e.g. pedodiversity)
2.4.1.4. Field scale
2.4.1.5. Pore/root scale
2.4.1.6. Micro-site scale

8. 3. Soil biodiversity in different environments worldwide (lead author: xxxx)
4. Regional status and trends in the state of knowledge on soil biodiversity
(regions as SWR2015 and derived from country survey under preparation) (lead
author: xxxx)
Example of synthesis table
Option to consider

9. 5. Contributions of soil biodiversity and soil-mediated ecosystem services to
facing key sustainability policy challenges (lead author: xxxx)
5.1 How to enhance agricultural productivity to achieve food security and nutrition while
protecting the environment? (expert author: xxxx)
5.1.1. Promising interventions to recover and enhance ecosystem services provided by soil
biodiversity: Provision of food and fibre
5.1.2.1. Approaches/Strategies/Practices including mechanistic understanding of how soil
biodiversity contributes to respond to the sustainability challenge
5.2. How to increase the mitigation potential and adaptation of agriculture to Climate Change?
(expert author: xxxx)
5.3. How to halt soil erosion and reverse land degradation? (expert author: xxxx)
5.4. How to restore polluted soils, water quality and supply? (expert author: xxxx)
5.5. How to conserve and sustainably manage biodiversity? (expert author: xxxx)

10. 6. Policy, Education and Outreach (lead author: xxxx)
6.1. Policy
6.2. Education
6.3. Outreach
7. Challenges and Opportunities (lead author: xxxx)
7.1. Introduction
7.2. Knowledge gaps
7.3 Policy gaps
7.4. Education, capacity building and other forms of awareness
raising
7.5 Resource mobilization
8. Summary for Policymakers (lead author: xxxx)
Broader benefits captured in the summary for policy makers
should include linkages to the SDGs.

11. Next steps
1) Finalize the Global Soil Biodiversity Assessment table of contents (May 2019)
2) Submit invitations for chapter and section leaders to identified experts (May 2019)
4) Development and global delivery of a questionnaire to collect regional/national information
on the status of knowledge on soil biodiversity (Jun 2019)
3) Assign chapter and section leaders and agree on timelines and monitoring system (Jun 2019)
5) Processing and synthesis of country responses to questionnaire (Aug-Sep 2019)

12. Next steps
6) 2nd planning meeting with representatives of collaborating institutions (Oct 2019)
7) Final draft Assessment concluded by Editorial Board and opened for external review (Nov 2019)
8) Revised Final draft Assessment back to Editorial Board and reviewers for 2nd review (Jan 2020)
9) Final review and endorsement by the Editorial Board (Feb 2020)
10) Final Report submitted to SBSTTA (Mar 2020)

13. 2) Advances on the Global Symposium on Soil Biodiversity (GSOBI20)