Global Soil Partnership Newsletter
Sixth Session of the GSP Plenary Assembly
The 6th GSP Plenary Assembly (PA) will take place at FAO HQ in Rome from 11 to 13 June 2018. The GSP PA constitutes the decision making body of the GSP and the main forum where all GSP partners gather to discuss and make decisions about the global soil agenda. Representatives from member countries of FAO and partners will review the progress made during the last year and will discuss the work plan for 2018–2019, including:
• Progress under the GSP Pillars including the development/execution of implementation plans;
• Progress report on Regional Soil Partnerships;
• Main accomplishments of the Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils (ITPS) in the biennium 2017 – 2018 and the appointment of the new ITPS panel for 2018 – 2020;
• Progress report on the financial status of GSP, including the Healthy Soils Facility;
• GSP-prompted activities, such as the organization of the past symposiums on Soil Organic Carbon and Soil Pollution, the state-of-the-work and the proposal for the next symposiums;
• The communication campaign for World Soil Day 2017 – 2018 and the Glinka World Soil Prize award.
The side event “Afrisoils: boosting soil productivity for a food secured Africa” will be held during the PA.
The NENA Soil Partnership and the African Soil Partnership will meet in their plenary constituencies on 13 June 2018.
Register to the 6th Plenary Assembly meeting by 25 May 2018 here
Access the documents: English | Spanish
Global Symposium on Soil Pollution | 2-4 May 2018, FAO HQ
The 2nd edition of the Soil Organic Carbon Mapping cookbook has been updated with knowledge from practical experiences gained during the implementation process of the Global Soil Organic carbon map (GSOC map) V1.0 throughout 2017. The document follows the typical digital soil mapping work-flow and provides users a complete soil property mapping solution.
In addition, the Technical report of the GSOCmap presents the technical details of the first ever country driven endeavour to map soil organic carbon (SOC) globally. It provides guidance on the process that led to the completion of the GSOCmap and on how to use it. The map provides users with valuable information to monitor the soil condition, identify degraded areas, set restoration targets, explore SOC sequestration potentials, and support the greenhouse gas emission reporting
Download the 2nd ed. of the Cookbook | Technical report of the GSOC map
Implementing the GSOC17 Outcome document on SOC
The Global Symposium on Soil Organic Carbon gathered more than 400 participants from 111 countries, including representatives of FAO member states, organizing institutions, the private sector and civil society, as well as scientists and practitioners working on soil organic carbon (SOC) and related fields.
Participants from across the globe engaged actively by presenting the results of studies demonstrating the potential and challenges of managing and monitoring SOC and by discussing and developing the key messages reflected in the outcome document. The outcome document “Unlocking the potential of soil organic carbon” provides 8 recommendations made based on this work and are aimed at supporting the development of policies and actions to foster the protection, sequestration, measurement, mapping, monitoring and reporting of SOC. The ITPS and the GSP Secretariat together with various partners are currently addressing these recommendations with several activities. An update on the ongoing work for the preparation of a technical manual on SOC management and the preparation of guidelines for measuring, mapping, monitoring and reporting on SOC, is presented here.
