The document outlines the progress on implementing soil organic carbon management practices, highlighting the need for a technical manual that considers regional socio-economic and environmental contexts. It discusses the drafting process of guidelines for monitoring soil organic carbon stocks and details the involvement of experts in creating these frameworks and the challenges faced. Additionally, it emphasizes the necessity of collaboration and a structured modeling approach to assess carbon sequestration potential effectively.

1. Item 7
Progress on implementation of
GSOC17
Rosa Cuevas, GSP Secretariat

2. Technical manual on SOC management at
the regional and sub-regional scale
• Response to the urgent need to identify
and compile management practices
and LUS that promote the preservation
and/or enhancement of SOC stocks.
• The contributions will be adapted to
site characteristics and land user needs
and consider cost-benefit analyses and
social impacts
• Another virtue of this document will be
to consider the different socio-
economic, cultural and environmental
contexts at the national and regional
level.

3. • Description of the practice: Region and/or country where the practice can be
applied, measurements and evidence-based results with the adequate statistical
accuracy (include data from meta-analysis).
• Context: Local environmental, socio-economic, cultural and institutional contexts.
• Trade-offs: Possible synergies and co-benefits or conflicts with other practices.
• Potential barriers to adoption: Considerations for adoption within the cultural and
socio-economic context. Possible side effects that could negatively affect the
climate change mitigation potential of the practice.
• Benefits and management recommendations: Soil processes that enable SOC
preservation and/or increase, case studies and success stories of effective practice
adoption and achieved SOC/SOM preservation/increase.
• Potential of C sequestration: For the recommended management practices,
including the possible trade-offs of SOC sequestration efforts when assessing the
full GHG balance.
Chapter’s main structure

4. • The working group sent to the Secretariat the zero draft that
was submitted for review by the Panel of Experts (CIRCASA,
IPCC, ISP-UNCCD, STC-4per1000).
• Taking into account the thickness of the document and the
number of participants, the GSP should work on a synthetic
and improved version.
• Coarse and heterogeneous content: about 500 pages, in 18
chapters, more than 100 participants.
• Based on Panel’s comments and suggestions, an improved,
summarized and harmonized version will be prepared since
the zero draft obeys more to a scientific revision than to a
technical manual.
• The final version will be launched during World Soil Day
celebrations.
TIMELINE

5. WG - Soil Organic Carbon Monitoring
• 100+ Experts
• To be released in 2019
Working group to develop feasible and regionally contextualized guidelines for measuring, mapping, monitoring and
reporting on SOC that can be adapted locally to monitor SOC stocks and stock changes to support management
decisions
1. Introduction and definitions
2. Baseline Soil Organic Carbon Stocks
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Sampling Design
2.3 Field Sampling, Sample Processing
2.4 Laboratory Methods
2.5 Bulk Density, Coarse Fragments
2.6 Data Handling
2.7 Stock Calculations
4. Modelling SOC and SOC Changes
4.1 Conventional Methods
4.2 Process Based Models
4.3 Digital Soil Mapping
5.1 Uncertainty Assessment
5.2 Sources of Uncertainty
5.3 Uncertainty Quantification
6. Reporting, Integration with GLOSIS and SoilSTAT
3.1 SOC Monitoring
3.2 SOC Monitoring Methods,
Approaches
3.3 Detection Limits
3.4 Sampling Frequency
3.5 Monitoring on Different Land
Systems (introduction)
3.5.1 Agricultural Lands, Pastures
3.5.2 Forest Lands, 3.5.3 Wetlands,
3.5.4 Grasslands, 3.5.5 Drylands
Status: Drafting Phase

6. International Network on Black Soils
 The International Symposium on Black Soils & First
Plenary of International Network of Black Soils (ISBS18)
have been held in Harbin on 10 - 12 September 2018.
Outputs:
1. The definition of black soils
2. Working plan of INBS
3. Harbin Communiqué
Second Plenary of INBS will hold in Moldova in October 2019

7. GSOCmap interpretation

8. GSOCmap interpretation

9. GSOCmap interpretation

10. Submissions

12. RECARBONIZATION OF GLOBAL SOILS (RECSOIL) FACILITY

13. Global assessment of soil organic carbon
sequestration potential (GSOCseq)

15. Item 10
GSOC sequestration potential
Rosa Cuevas, GSP Secretariat

16. Global assessment of soil organic carbon
sequestration potential (GSOCseq)
January – March 2019 - Draft reviewed by GSP SOC Advisory Group:
• Prof. Dr. Keith Paustian – Colorado State University
• Prof. Dr. Peter Smith – University of Aberdeen
• Prof. Dr. Thomas Crowther – ETH Zurich
• Prof. Dr. Rattan Lal - Ohio State University
• ITPS
October 2018 - Draft – Technical Specifications (reviewed by ITPS)
November 2018 – INSII - Fourth Working Session of the International Network
of Soil Information Institutions
December 2018 - A revised version was produced
April – May 2019 - New version available (to be sent to INSII for final review)
June 2019 – December 2020 – Mapping process

17. Summary. Comments from Experts
• Key principles should govern the work:
• careful coordination of data and analytical methods;
• same data sources;
• same carbon model and assumptions within a model.
• Not feasible to have semi-independent efforts (country-driven analyses) and yield
consistent results. A modelling team is needed.
• Sensitivity and uncertainty should be established.
• Inclusion of machine learning models: improve accuracy of predictions.
• Definition of a realistic and feasible 'recommended land use and management
practices’ is the main challenge.
• December 2019: not realistic deadline

18. Prior to modeling attainable SOC under recommended practices , the
‘empirical’ approaches described in sections 3.1 and 3.2.1 will provide a first
guide on attainable carbon levels in the different regions using: the GSOC
stocks as a base-line, and using harmonized global data sources (Land Use, soil
and Climatic Data; Table 1 , Annex 2).
As a second stage, and taking into consideration expert reviewers’ comments
(see Annex 3), a coordinated and guided ‘Bottom-up’, Level 2, modeling
approach (see section 3.2.2) is proposed (summarized in Fig. 8):
Estimating Carbon Gaps
Proposal and Way Forward

19. Coordinated Bottom-up approach

20. Soil Carbon Gaps conceptual framework

21. 𝑆𝑂𝐶 (%) = 𝑆𝑂𝐶0 +
𝑎
1 + 𝑒−
𝑡−𝑡0
𝑏
Empirical approaches
According to the authors, the increase in % SOC in response to improved
management may be described as
• where SOC0 is the initial soil organic carbon content (%), (which shall
correspond to the GSOC Map present Stock);
• a (0.35 to 1.2) and b (9.8 to11.5) are empirical constants defined for ‘ low’ , ‘
medium’ and ‘ high’ SOC accumulation rate scenarios (and t the target time
expressed (20 years),
• and t0 is the year where the slope of the curve is largest, i.e. the annual
sequestration rate highest (assumed between 3-7 years by the authors).

22. Collaboration and interaction
with country designed
experts is essential for the
validation of results

23. Level 2- RothC Model

24. Level 2. Roth-C
Climate Data Soil Data Land Use- Management Data
1. Monthly rainfall(mm)
2. Average monthly mean
air temperature (ºC)
3. Monthly open pan
evaporation (mm)
1. Soil simulation depth
(cm)
2. Clay content (%) at
simulation depth.
3. Total Initial SOC stocks
(Ton C. ha-1)
4. Initial C stocks of the
different pools (Ton C.
ha-1): DPM, RPM, BIO,
HUM, IOM
1. Monthly Soil cover (binary:
fallow vs. vegetated)
2. Monthly Carbon inputs from
plant residue (aerial + roots +
rhizodepositions), (Ton C.ha-1)
3. Monthly Carbon inputs from
manure (Ton C.ha-1)
4. DPM/RPM ratio, an estimate of
the decomposability of the
incoming plant material

26. Coordinated Bottom-up approach