Ms Rosa Poch (Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils, Spain). Global Symposium on Soil Erosion (GSER19), 15 - 17 May 2019 at FAO HQ.

1. Theme 3: The economics
of soil erosion control and
restoration of eroded land
Conclusions and outcomes
Rosa M Poch - ITPS
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2. 2
The way of the cross- Pieter Brueghel the Younger 1564-1638

3. 3
More erosion Less yield
• Empirical observation, spatial and temporal variability
• Difficult to simulate with precision
• Need to determine the variables in each case
• The effects are masked by other factors (improved
cultivars, higher inputs, climate...)
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4. 4
Think globally, act locally
• Need to involve all actors to guarantee success, through
multistakeholder platforms to find global agreements
• Farmers (landusers in general) will only apply and
maintain SCM if they see (short term) benefits
• Need to show and demonstrate the interrelations
between environmental quality and local management
• The willingness to adopt environmental-friendly
measures depends on the wealth level of the farmer
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5. 5
Certification procedures and Eco-labels:
what to use ?
• Lack of standardized, generally approved
sustainability indicators
• They should be scientifically robust, comprehensive,
and should be applied by a third party
• ISO standards as a general frame
• Need to have a scope beyond the farmer
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6. 6
Carrot or stick?
• The farmers should be paid for environmental
benefits as they have a role of protecting the
environment.
• There should be ways of making them pay when the
environment is severely damaged (e.g. sediment load
in rivers).
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7. 7
When I’ll get my money back?
• The appropriate time frame for CBA changes if we
consider the on-site (farm) or off-site (environment)
effects of soil erosion (rule of thumb: 3 to 20 years)
• Benefits for farmers should be seen in a short term,
but the analysis period should be longer
• Incentives / subsidies should be implemented for the
first years of application of SSM.
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8. 8
Is climate change an issue here?
• Climate change will affect erosion, and in general the
availability of resources (water, nutrients) for soil
ecosystem services.
• We should economically it them into account in soil
erosion or soil degradation in general, in the same way
that other uncertainties.
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9. 9
What technologies, innovations or approaches
exist to decrease the costs of implementing
soil erosion control practices compared to that
of conventional soil management?
• Some organisms (e.g. ESP Ecosystem Services
Partnership, ELD Economics of Land Degradation) have
already some tools and indicator lists to assess
ecosystem sustainability that could be adapted to
evaluate costs and benefits of SSM.
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10. 10
 It presents a general framework of how to
economically evaluate SSM
 Should explicitely address different time and
space scales
Flowchart - Tier 1

11. • Erosion-specific template providing an on-line
tool to calculate the cost-benefit of erosion
management practices at field scale
• Could be implemented through the analysis of
SSM of WOCAT
• Some tools already exist to economically
evaluate the cost of soil erosion at field scale
(e.g. EPIC)
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Flowchart - Tier 2

12. Gràcies!