Soil under pressure, the impact of human activity and climate change. Global Soil Partnership pillars of action.

1. GLOBAL SOIL PARTNERSHIP

2. SOILS ARE UNDER PRESSURE: What we expect from
soils from 2012 onwards?
Sustain Biodiversity
Climate change
Food security: food, adaptation and
forrage, fiber mitigation
Bio-energy production Platform and material
for construction
Regulating, supporting
Water storage and and cultural
provision environmental services
HELP!

3. Responses to Soils today
• Soil data - fragmented, partly outdated (fertility, SOC,…), heterogeneous-difficult to
compare, not easy accessible, not responding to users demands.
• Soil capacities - increasingly a scarce resource (loss of soil expertise & skills).
• Soil knowledge & research - fragmented (fertility, CC, ecology), domain of soil
scientists, not accessible for use by various disciplines/for decision making, not
tailored to address problems/development agendas of today.
• Awareness & investments in soil management - extremely low compared to the
needs that soil is a precious resources & requires special care from its users.
• Soil policy: Often perceived as a 2nd-tier priority; lack of international governance
body to support coordinated global action on their management.
Need for compatible and coordinated soil policies – A unified and authoritative voice is
needed to better coordinate efforts and pool limited resources (for agriculture, forestry,
food security, UNCCD, CBD, UNFCCC, disaster & drought management, land competition,
rural & urban land use planning & development).

4. ¿WHY THESE RESPONSES?
• Dirt: it’s right under our feet, but so often we overlook it. But soils are so very,
very important. They provide the basis for global food, feed, fuel and fiber
production and are crucial for water availability, nutrient cycling, organic carbon
stocks, and represent one-quarter of global biodiversity.
• Because it’s everywhere, we tend to overlook the fact that soil is a limited natural
resource. On top of that, the world’s limited area of fertile soils are increasingly
under pressure from competing land uses. Soil degradation threatens this vital
resource, weakening efforts to increase food production for a growing
population.
• Soils are often perceived as a second-tier priority and no international
governance body to support coordinated global action on their management
exists. A unified and authoritative voice for soil management is needed to better
coordinate efforts and pool limited resources.
GSP article published at the Food and Ethics Magazine

5. Why a Global Soil Partnership?
The GSP was launched by FAO, with the support of EC-JRC, in Sept. 2011 and its Terms
of reference are to be endorsed and guided by the Committee on Agriculture in May
2012 to:
• Improve global coordination /governance of the
world’s soil resources through an
intergovernmental mechanism;
• Put national and regional needs in the centre.
• Involve local institutions and communities to
create ownership.
• Catalyse effective and coordinated soils policies 200 participants; 100 countries
and investments to guarantee healthy productive 120 organizations; (int./reg./
soils for food security and sustained ecosystem national institutes; soil science
services. networks; NGOs; universities
research;farmers associations)

6. GSP Proposed Pillars of Action
•Promote sustainable management of soil resources for soil protection, conservation
and sustainable productivity.
•Encourage investment, technical cooperation, policy, education awareness and
extension in soils.
•Promote targeted soil research and development focusing on identified gaps and
priorities and synergies with related productive, environmental and social development
actions.
•Enhance the quantity and quality of soil data
and information: data collection (generation),
analysis, validation, reporting, monitoring and
integration with other disciplines;
•Harmonization of methods, measurements
and indicators for the sustainable management
and protection of soil resources;

7. Proposed structure of the GSP

8. REGIONAL SOIL PARTNERSHIPS
Nanjing, China 8-11 February 2012
Amman, Jordan 1-5 April 2012
Mar del Plata, Argentina 16-20 April 2012

9. JOIN US TOWARDS THE GSP
THANYOU