SISLAC (Sistema de Informacion de Suelos de Latinoamerica)

SISLAC (“Sistema de Informacion de Suelos de Latinoamerica”) is a regional initiative promoted and sponsored by the Global Soil Partnership, which involves CIAT, EMBRAPA and 20 national institutes in Argentina, Bolivia, Brasil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, dominican Republic, Surinam, Uruguay and Venezuela.

It aims to develop a modern soil  information system that can provide guidance to the sustainable use and management of soils, as well as help to improve food security, adapt to climatic change, offer environmental services and reduce poverty.

The system will be developed through state-of-the-art methods and tools of Digital Soil Mapping. The first phase, under CIAT leadership, involves the rescue, harmonization and storage of historical soil profiles in a regional database, which currently contains 6100 profiles,as well as the development of a regional 1:1,000,000 scale soil classification map using the national soil maps and the WRB soil classification system.

The second phase, implemented by EMBRAPA in collaboration with INTA, involves capacity building and formal training in digital soil mapping and the development of soil property maps at national and regional level. Key to achieving this deliverable is the participation and leadership of the 20 countries involved in SISLAC.

The SISLAC web site is currently not open to the general public: for data access user registration and use objectives statement are required.