"I hope that the European Union will soon adopt the Soil Directive. In the meantime, the steps taken so far with Mission Soil and Farm to Fork are going in the right direction. It is important for Europe to set out these strategies and, of course, it is even more important to work coherently with acts and choices that will give them operational substance”. Maurizio Martina, formerly Minister of Agriculture and for a few months Secretary Regent of the Democratic Party, opened a new phase in his life in January. The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, Dr QU Dongyu has appointed him special advisor and Deputy Director-General. We caught up with him while the preparation for the Global Symposium on Soil Biodiversity was underway at the FAO headquarters.

Dr Martina, why did FAO's Global Soil Partnership decide to organise such an event?

Soils are widely recognised as one of the most important reservoirs of global biodiversity. However, the loss of this biodiversity is considered a major threat in many regions of the world. Despite enormous scientific progress to date, the protection and monitoring of soil resources at national and global level face enormous challenges, resulting in problems in designing and implementing effective policies on the ground.

The Global Symposium on Soil Biodiversity (GSOBI21) will bring together experts from around the world to discuss the state of global soil biodiversity, trends and opportunities to be seized, based on the best scientific evidence available to date. The event will provide a platform for countries, scientific communities, local communities, institutions and businesses to discuss and share examples of integrated land use planning and soil management, as well as solutions to restore soil ecosystem services and ensure equitable and environmentally sound approaches.

The data on soil health are alarming. Is there an underestimation of the problem compared to other environmental issues?

The role of the Global Soil Partnership (GSP) together with other organisations has been crucial in contributing to the knowledge, use, conservation and sustainable management of this precious natural capital: soil. Today, the key role played by soils in providing food and other essential ecosystem services that enable life on Earth is widely recognised. Despite this, however, one third of our soils worldwide show some level of degradation, resulting in a loss of their health and functioning.

Furthermore, there are some obvious gaps in the monitoring of soil health and degradation on a national, regional, and global scale. It is now a question of filling these gaps through the creation and promotion of national and regional soil information systems, the creation of global maps of different soil properties, and the establishment of networks to strengthen soil monitoring and provide useful tools for decision-makers on sustainable soil management.

Soil protection also has to do with food production and food sovereignty. How does FAO believe soil and its health should be protected?

The Voluntary Guidelines for Sustainable Soil Management are the main tool and driving force behind our work and that of the Global Soil Partnership. They provide general technical and policy recommendations on sustainable soil management based on generally accepted and science-based principles to promote and provide concrete guidance to all stakeholders on how to translate these principles into practice, whether in agriculture, pastoralism, forestry or more generally natural resource management.

The implementation of guidelines at national level is one of the most effective ways to ensure sustainable management and soil health. A successful example of the implementation of this tool is an FAO project in Bangladesh, Burkina Faso and Malawi, funded by the German government and focused on the adoption of sustainable soil management practices to improve the nutritional quality of local food products

The International Code of Conduct for the Sustainable Use and Management of Fertilisers is another important tool developed by FAO to ensure sustainable soil management by all actors involved in this process.

Which strategies does FAO pursue and which one do you personally consider most effective and necessary?

FAO, through its Global Soil Partnership, is pursuing better governance and more sustainable management of soil resources: it has proven to be the game changer. It is an integrated and cost-effective solution that improves crop productivity while preserving soil health and integrates local and indigenous knowledge with advanced technologies for data collection, analysis and interpretation.

The Global Soil Partnership recently launched the Protocol for the Assessment of Sustainable Soil Management which aims to provide a framework, based on a set of indicators, for government officials, NGOs and other parties involved in development projects to determine whether implemented soil management practices are indeed sustainable and in line with recommendations.

The RECSOIL (Recarbonization of Global Soils) initiative is the most effective and innovative tool to sequester carbon in soils with this potential and improve their health. With this tool, four challenges can be addressed: re-sequestering the CO2 released into the atmosphere, while at the same time contributing to improved food security and farm income, reducing poverty and malnutrition, and finally building soil resilience to extreme weathering events and pandemics.

Climate change is substantially changing biodiversity and productive capacities everywhere. Does FAO believe that a global soil-climate strategy is possible?

Not only is it possible. It is necessary! I hope that what I have said so far also demonstrates our commitment on this front.

We have already mentioned the steps taken by the EU. But national actions must be added. Let's think about Italy: do you think our country has an adequate approach to tackle the issue of soil health?

No country can be content with what it has done. Italy has to be increasingly aware of the delicacy of its territorial context and be consequent in terms of choices. This work has to be done by institutions, but it concerns everyone. I hope that in our country too there will be a greater awareness of the urgency of this necessary change.

There is no doubt that the agricultural sector represents a crucial junction for hoping to tackle the issue effectively. How can we convince the agro-industry to abandon intensive, chemical-intensive agriculture?

I think that all the players in the agricultural and food industry are now called upon to make a qualitative and model leap. "Producing better, consuming less" is possible. When you measure yourself against this challenge, you can combine sustainability and competitiveness. Plenty of experiences prove this every day.