Soil Organic Carbon: 4/1000 and Land Restoration by Leigh Ann Winowiecki, World Agroforestry Centre. Presentation made at Soil Carbon Sequestration: Supporting NDCs and donor action. A CGIAR-wide workshop held 12 Nov 2017 at ZEF Center for Development Research, University of Bonn. Workshop organized jointly by: CGIAR Research Programs on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS); Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE) and Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (FTA)

1. Soil Organic Carbon: 4/1000 and
Land Restoration
Leigh Ann Winowiecki and Tor-G. Vågen, World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF)

2. Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) as a key indicator of
Soil Health
• Recognized by global initiatives
• An indicator of overall land health
and productivity
• Responds to land management/use
• Cost-effective to measure with soil
spectroscopy
Minasny et al. 2017. Soil carbon 4 per mille. Geoderma 292, 59–86.
doi:10.1016/j.geoderma.2017.01.002

3. Ecosystem Health and SOC

4. Need for consistent Landscape scale assessment
of Ecosystem Health and SOC dynamics
• dafdf

5. Systematic Assessments of Land and Soil Health
• The Land Degradation Surveillance
Framework (LDSF)
• Systematic field-based assessments of
multiple variables at the same geo-
referenced location
• Vegetation cover, land use, management, soil
properties, biodiversity, etc.
• Mapping of SOC at multiple spatial scales
• Allows for:
• Rapid assessments across diverse
landscapes
• Assessment of multiple drivers of land
degradation
• Targeted prioritization of interventions
• Cross site comparisons
• Production of high quality maps of key
indicators
http://landscapeportal.org/blog/2015/03/25/the-land-degradation-surveillance-framework-ldsf/

6. Mapping the impacts of land use on SOC

7. Assessing biophysical constraints to SOC storage
• There are inherent soil
properties that limit the
extent to which the soil
can store carbon.
• These constraints are
important to understand in
order to manage for
agricultural productivity
and to target interventions
to increase SOC in a
spatially explicit way.

8. Comparison of SOC stocks calculated to 30 cm across
four LDSF sites in East Africa
Cumulative Soil Mass Method for SOC stocks:
Cross-site comparisons
Vågen, T.-G., Winowiecki, L.A., 2013. Mapping of soil organic carbon stocks
for spatially explicit assessments of climate change mitigation potential.
Environ. Res. Lett. 8, 15011. doi:10.1088/1748-9326/8/1/015011

9. Winowiecki et al., 2016 Geoderma
Using the LDSF data to SOC stocks to 30cm at
500 m resolution

10. Potential increases in
SOC stocks to achieve
targets set in the 4/1000
initiative
Example for Tanzania

11. SOC and Cultivation
• Data from Tanzania LDSF site
shows a 50% reduction of SOC
in cultivated plots vs non-
cultivated plots
– SOC variability in cultivated plots
is also reduced
By mapping SOC stocks at local scale, spatial targeting
of interventions such as application of composted
manure (photo left) to increase organic carbon in the
soil can be more effectively implemented.
Winowiecki, L., Vågen, T.-G., Massawe, B., Jelinski, N.A., Lyamchai, C., Sayula, G.,
Msoka, E., 2016. Landscape-scale variability of soil health indicators: Effects of
cultivation on soil organic carbon in the Usambara Mountains of Tanzania. Nutr.
Cycl. Agroecosystems 105, 263–274. doi:10.1007/s10705-015-9750-1

12. SOC and Erosion
Data from LDSF sites show
that increased erosion is
often driving the loss of SOC
in landscapes.
Photo credit: Joakim Vågen

13. Participatory Mapping of Land Degradation by Gender
M.Sc Thesis by Mary Crossland
EastZelsea
(women)
EastZelsea(men)

14. Implementing Options for Land Restoration and
increased SOC

15. Invest in climate-smart soil and
land health
http://hdl.handle.net/10568/89091
Better soil health can increase
#agricultural productivity.
Restoration activities build on-
farm #resilience & contribute to
#climate adaptation and
mitigation. Here's how: Brief 8
of 9:
https://cgspace.cgiar.org/handle/10
568/89091 @cgiarclimate
@CGIAR @IITA_CGIAR @ICRAF
@IFADnews #COP23
#AgAdvantage

16. Soil Restoration Efforts
SOIL RESTORATION FOR ACHIEVING THE 2063 AND 2030 AGENDAS IN
AFRICA: LINKING GLOBAL AMBITIONS TO LOCAL NEEDS
• http://www.worldagroforestry.org/event/soil-restoration-achieving-2063-
2030-agendas-africa-linking-global-ambitions-local-needs
• http://www.iisd.ca/soil/african-seminar/
• http://globalsoilweek.org/outcomes
Landscape portal
http://landscapeportal.org/
Land Restoration Project Website:
http://www.worldagroforestry.org/project/restoration-degraded-land-food-
security-and-poverty-reduction-east-africa-and-sahel-taking

17. Thank you!
Leigh Ann Winowiecki - l.a.winowiecki@cgiar.org
Tor-Gunnar Vågen - t.vagen@cgiar.org