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The Global Symposium on Soil Information and Data, held from 25 to 28 September 2024, was a significant gathering that united 300 on-site participants and over 2 000 virtual attendees from around the world. This event brought together soil experts, policymakers, and stakeholders with a shared commitment to advancing the global soil agenda. The discussions centered around leveraging expertise, sharing experiences, and forging partnerships, highlighting the critical role of soil data in our agrifood systems.
Over three days, the 12th Plenary Assembly session of the Global Soil Partnership held in a hybrid event brought together 900 participants, 203 delegates and 143 GSP partners and soil-related stakeholders. Engaging in lively discussions, the assembly tackled the key challenges faced by our soils and set the agenda for action in the coming years. Featuring 8 opening remarks from high-level speaker and 21 powerful presentations, experts shared valuable knowledge and innovative solutions to nurture our precious soils.
The Recarbonization of Global Agricultural Soils (RECSOIL) initative seeks to protect and increase the treasure beneath our feet – soil organic carbon. As a key indicator of soil health, soil carbon can be increased through sustainable soil management. RECSOIL creates an enabling environment at a national level and empowers individual farmers to adopt sustainable practices that increase soil health, resilience to climate change, food security, and livelihoods.
From fertile valleys to arid lands, Guatemalan farmers face extreme weather conditions, erosion and soil degradation. The solution is not always clear, especially with high fertilizer prices. To address the issue, the Government of Guatemala together with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), with support from the United States Government, is launching the SoilFER Project. This project seeks to improve agricultural life through the collection of data and knowledge on soils, with the objective of establishing efficient information and monitoring systems, providing decision support tools and promoting sustainable practices. From farmer training to personalized advice, the goal is to increase soil yields, improve food security and increase resilience to drought.
Desde fértiles valles hasta tierras áridas, los agricultores guatemaltecos se enfrentan a condiciones climáticas extremas, erosión y degradación del suelo. La solución no siempre es clara, especialmente con los altos precios de los fertilizantes. Para abordar la temática, el Gobierno de Guatemala junto con la Organización de las Naciones Unidas para la Alimentación y la Agricultura (FAO), con respaldo del Gobierno de los Estado Unidos, pone en marcha el Proyecto SoilFER. Este proyecto busca mejorar la vida agrícola mediante la recopilación de datos y conocimientos sobre los suelos, con el objetivo de establecer sistemas de información y monitoreo eficientes, proporcionar herramientas de apoyo a la toma de decisiones y promover prácticas sostenibles. Desde la capacitación de agricultores hasta el asesoramiento personalizado, el objetivo es aumentar los rendimientos del suelo, mejorar la seguridad alimentaria y aumentar la resiliencia ante la sequía.
Tajikistan has launched the Global Soil Doctors Programme, addressing the challenges of limited arable land. With only 7% suitable for agriculture, the country faces threats of soil erosion and degradation, threatening sustainable farming. Discover the key aspects covered in the programme, from soil fertility management, to soil visual assessment, pH evaluation with vinegar and baking soda. The stage is set for the emergence of a new generation of 24 Soil Doctors trainers, armed with tools and knowledge to support over 200 Soil Doctors and 2000 Tajikistan's farmers.
The Lao People's Democratic Republic has launched the Global Soil Doctors Programme, a collaborative effort involving various stakeholders, including the Lao´s Department of Agricultural Land Management, the FAO country office, and FAO's Global Soil Partnership. The programme, initiated in September 2023, focuses on enhancing sustainable soil management and addressing rural community needs.
The Global Soil Doctors Programme tackles the urgent issue of soil degradation, a threat to one-third of the world's soils. Explore the critical link between soil health and our food sources, the innovative solutions offered by the programme, empowering farmers with knowledge and skills to independently address soil degradation issues.
Discover the inspiring journey of the Soil and Fertilizer Society of Thailand, awarded the prestigious King Bhumibol World Soil Day Award in 2023. In 2022, their commitment was reflected in a variety of activities, including the 7th National Soil and Fertilizer Conference, symposia, workshops, educational projects and exhibitions on soil, water and forests. Emphasizing cooperation and unity, they conducted 301 field activities, presented art exhibitions, organized cultural events and participated in 250 activities with farmers.
The Glinka World Soil Prize, presented on World Soil Day, highlights the vital role of healthy soils for a healthy life amid the global push to combat soil degradation. The 2023 laureate is Professor Ravendra Naidu, a distinguished scientists with over three decades of commitment to advancing soil contamination studies. His contributions to soil science encompass research, innovation, education, and advocacy.
Explore the magical relationship between water and soil in this captivating video, enhanced by poetical lyrics and stop motion animation. Witness the dynamic interaction as the soil responds to the power of a summer storm and dive into the mysteries of the water contained beneath our feet, filling riverbeds under sunny skies.
Embark on a journey into the heart of our planet's lifelines with this enlightening video, 'Soil and water: a source of life.' The narrative unfolds the symbiotic relationship between soil and water, highlighting their crucial role in sustaining life on Earth. Healthy soil, acting as a natural water reservoir, not only influences global water quality and availability but also plays a pivotal role in ensuring food security and nutrition. Witness how soil acts as a powerful carbon sink, mitigating climate change, and discover its role as a habitat for 59% of Earth's species.
Soil may not look like much but without it we wouldn't be able to produce our food! But soil erosion is threatening our food security. Every 5 seconds the equivalent of one soccer pitch is eroded! Once we lose this soil we won't see it again in our lifetime. If we don't act now, over 90% of the Earth's soils could become degraded by 2050.
This animated film tells the reality of soil resources around the world, covering the issues of degradation, urbanization, land grabbing and overexploitation; the film offers options to make the way we manage our soils more sustainable.
The world’s soils are rapidly deteriorating due to soil erosion, nutrient depletion, loss of soil organic carbon, soil sealing and other threats, but this trend can be reversed provided countries take the lead in promoting sustainable management practices and the use of appropriate technologies, according to the 'Status of the World’s Soil Resources'report.
Soils are by nature linked to the micronutrient content of our food production and they can help to reverse the increasing trend of nutrient depleted soil by adopting sustainable soil management practices.
The Sustainable Development Goals were recently created with a view to achieve sustainable development by 2030. Of the 17 goals, four contain targets specifically related to Soils. This animation looks at some of the challenges we face in each of these goals and presents some of the methods we can use to tackle them.
This short animation introduces the new book “Soils and Pulses: symbiosis for life”. Pulses contribute to soil health, food security and nutrition, and climate change adaptation and mitigation.
An animated illustration of soil organic carbon and its importance for climate action, food production and sustainable development.
The Global Soil Organic Carbon map V1.0 is an important stepping stone to better know the current Soil Organic Carbon stock stored beneath our feet and soils’ potential for further sequestration.
Soil is a complex growing habitat that remains productive only when it is cared for and nurtured. Combating and addressing soil pollution means assessing and minimizing the risks for food security, human health and the environment.
This animation gives a brief introduction on the main drivers, the key functions and challenges of soil biodiversity loss, indicating possible ways to enhance soil biodiversity as a nature-based solution.
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Short version: English
This video was presented during the International Forum on Black Soil Conservation and Utilization held in Jilin Province from 21 to 23 July 2021 by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of the People’s Republic of China (MARA)...
This video presents the issue of soil salinization, its causes and consequences as well as some actions that farmers can take to rehabilitate their soils.
In recognition of the efforts made by individuals/institutions in organizing World Soil Day celebrations around the world, the Kingdom of Thailand has sponsored the King Bhumibol World Soil Day Award. The winner of this fourth edition is NISS, the Nigeria Institute of Soil Science for their outstanding festivities organized in the framework of WSD2020 “Keep soil alive, Protect soil biodiversity”.
The Glinka World Soil Prize encourages stakeholders and soil practitioners to engage in field-oriented work, with direct contributions to the preservation of our soils for food security and a healthy life. The 2021 Laureate is Dr Lydie-Stella Koutika, a well renowned soil scientist from the Republic of the Congo. For over 40 years, she has championed the crucial role of soils for food security and climate change mitigation and adaptation.
Soil salinization and sodification are major soil degradation processes threatening ecosystem and are recognized as being among the most important problems at a global level for agricultural production, food security and sustainability in arid and semi-arid regions.
This video raises awareness on the risks associated with soil nutrient imbalance and soil fertility loss while highlighting the role of soil fertility in producing sufficient, safe, and more nourishing food for healthier plants, animals, and people.
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The video is a call to action by The Netherlands, FAO and the Asian Development Bank on the need to scale sustainable saline agriculture in order to contribute to climate adaptation and mitigation through resilient water-soil practices.