Mr Lulu Zhang, United Nations University, Germany. Global Symposium on Soil Erosion (GSER19), 15 - 17 May 2019 at FAO HQ.

1. Reinforce Water and Climate Co-benefits
in Actions to Control Soil Erosion
Lulu Zhang – United Nations University
1

2. Global soil erosion trend
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Borrelli et al., 2017 Nature Communication
Asia:
3.47 Mg ha-1 a-1
South America:
3.53 Mg ha-1 a-1 Africa:
3.51 Mg ha-1 a-1

3. 3
Policy response to control soil erosion
FAO, 2015
SFA, 2015
1949-1978
Focus on timber
production

4. Soil conservation with climate co-benefit
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Wang et al. 2016, Nature Geoscience Dang et al. 2014, PLOS ONE

5. Coupled carbon and water cycle
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Grassland
Rain = 700 mm
Robinia plantation
with undergrowth

6. Tradeoff: decreasing water supply in dryland
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0
50
100
150
200
250
1961 1971 1981 1991 2001
Runoff(mm)
Zhang et al. 2014, Hydrological Processes
0
20
40
60
80
100
1 2
△Runoff(%)
Climate Land-use
74%
26%

7. Policy to address soil erosion:
reinforce co-benefits by sustainable forest management
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Policy
• Soil erosion control policy and adaptative strategy
need to consider possible cross-sectoral impacts,
such as soil-water-carbon interaction
Finance
• Provide incentives on critical linkages to enhance
synergy/co-benefits and mitigate trade-offs
between ecosystem services
Governance
• Promote education, training and provide
technical support and extension services for
capacity building

8. Thank You
Comments are very much appreciated!