Soil governance

Soil governance refers to the policies, strategies, and the processes of decision-making employed by nation states and local governments regarding the use of soil. Globally, governance of the soil has been limited to an agricultural perspective due to increased food insecurity from the most populated regions on earth. The Global Soil Partnership, GSP, was initiated by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and its members with the hope to improve governance of the limited soil resources of the planet in order to guarantee healthy and productive soils for a food-secure world, as well as support other essential ecosystem services. Soil governance refers to the policies, strategies, and the processes of decision-making employed by nation states and local governments regarding the use of soil. Globally, governance of the soil has been limited to an agricultural perspective due to increased food insecurity from the most populated regions on earth. The Global Soil Partnership, GSP, was initiated by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and its members with the hope to improve governance of the limited soil resources of the planet in order to guarantee healthy and productive soils for a food-secure world, as well as support other essential ecosystem services. Governing the soil requires international and national collaboration between governments, local authorities, industries and citizens to ensure implementation of coherent policies that encourage practices and methodologies that regulate usage of the resource to avoid conflict between users to promote sustainable land management. In the European Union's environmental policies, soil is recognized as a non-renewable resource, but its governance is maintained at a national level, unlike other non-renewable and climate sensitive resources. In the developing world, soil governance is biased towards promoting sustainable agriculture and ensuring food security. Governance of the soil differs from soil management. Soil management involves practices and techniques used to increase and maintain soil fertility, structure, and carbon sequestration, etc. Soil management techniques are heavily utilized in agriculture, because of the need to regulate the various practices, such as tillage techniques, fertilizer application and crop rotation (among others) by the various stakeholders involved. The need to monitor and avoid the negative effects of agricultural land use such as soil erosion has formed the basis of the discourse and awareness on soil governance, and has also seen the emergence of science and technology as the link between soil management and governance. Soil governance mechanisms are usually encapsulated within the context of land governance, with little focus on urban and industrial soil governance especially in developing countries that have rapid urbanization rates; thus, soil governance is highly interlinked with other atmospheric and anthropogenic processes which may contribute to the difficulty in distinguishing it as an entity. With an aim to make soil data available to all, the Food and Agriculture Organization and UNESCO created a global soil map in 1981 as the main information on the distribution of soil resources. Currently, under the GSP framework, a new global soil information system will be developed. In 2002, the International Union of Soil Sciences proposed December 5 to be 'World Soil Day' to celebrate the importance of soil in our lives. Under the framework of the GSP, the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly in December 2013 designated December 5 as the World Soil Day and declared 2015 as the International Year of Soils with the aim to raise awareness on the importance of soils for ecosystem functions and food security . Changes in land use, population growth, and the impacts of climate change have led to a gradual process of soil degradation. Soil degradation is a gradual process involving the natural and anthropogenic processes that result in the physical loss (erosion) and reduction in soil quality. The recognition of anthropogenic effects on soil degradation has influenced discourse of urban soil management, and formulation of policies by regional organizations. However, soil remains as the primary medium for food production, thus global soil governance is directed towards the impacts of soil degradation on food production and conflicts that arise between the need for human settlements and space available for food production. The impacts of climate change also contribute to the conflict because carbon dioxide emissions have progressively led to higher average global temperatures, which has led to an increase in soil degradation through erosion, increased salinity, and a reduction in the flora and fauna that contribute to its quality. The Global Soil Partnership (GSP) was launched in 2011. It is an initiative of the FAO and the European Commission that aims to 'Support and facilitate joint efforts towards sustainable management of soil resources for food security and climate change adaptation and mitigation' and to update the 1982 World Soil Charter. The World Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (Rome, 1979), and the Plan of Action of the UN Conference on Desertification (Nairobi, 1977) to combat land degradation and desertification initiated international discourse on effective soil management and governance, however the initiatives were limited to the soil and its relation to agricultural productivity. The GSP's ultimate goal is to achieve food security and restoration of ecosystem services through conserving, enhancing, and restoring soil resources through productive and sustainable use. In addition to being a global partnership, the GSP aims to create Regional Soil Partnerships (RSPs) to provide guidance on goals and priorities within specific regions and develop relevant activities within each region. The GSP meets in Plenary Assembly form to meet the different demands from each region. The First Plenary Assembly, held in June 2013 at the FAO's headquarters adopted the Rules of Procedure, nominated and established an Intergovernmental Technical Panel of Soils (ITPS), started thinking about the 5 pillars of action, supported the implementation of Regional Soil Partnerships and developed a GSP roadmap. The Second Plenary Assembly will be held in July 2014.