2017 DECEMBER | Soil Care Network

Soil Care Network Newsletter

Research

The most detailed mapping of soil erosion ever “The research findings, "An assessment of the global impact of 21st century land use change on soil erosion", offer an unprecedentedly thorough, high resolution assessment of global soil loss.” https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/news/how-much-soil-goes-down-drain-new-data-soil-lost-due-water

FAO launches a first world-wide soil organic carbon map: “The GSOC map represents the first ever global soil organic carbon assessment produced through a participatory approach I nwhich countries developed their capacities and stepped up efforts to compile all the available soil information at national level.” Over 1mln sample points (begs a lot of qs about sampling methods!) http://www.fao.org/global-soil-partnership/pillars-action/4-information-and-data/global-soil-organic-carbon-gsoc-map/en/

Farmers can Boost Crop Yields and Contribute over 1 Gigatonne of Emissions Reductions “Although the capacity to increase soil carbon depends to a large degree on the types of soils and the environment, all of the major agricultural countries in the world were shown to have significant carbon sequestration potential.” https://www.nature.org/newsfeatures/pressreleases/farmers-can-boost-crop-yields-and-contribute-over-1-gigatonne-of-emissions-r.xml

USA, Major Grant Will Foster Research on Soil Health https://www.hoosieragtoday.com/major-grant-will-foster-research-soil-health/ Dr. Rockey says one of the goals is to come up with best practices that farmers can use to improve the health of their soil

Editorials and blogs

Soils in the news

Soil degradation a neglected crisis in Iran “Although soil erosion is a global issue, Iran has one of the highest erosion rates in the world, with some reports saying that the country is ranked second with different figures varying between 2 billion and 4 billion tons of soil eroding annually — almost four times above the global average.” http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2017/12/iran-soil-degradation-crisis-environment-disaster-response.html#ixzz52ln4Z0ZD

Policy and social movements

2017 Global Landscapes Forum in Bonn, Germany: World’s Biggest Gathering on Accelerating Action for Sustainable Land Use “Held in Bonn for the first time, the conference brings together over 1,000 GLF members, including scientists, economists, politicians and activists. Previously, the conference has taken place alongside the United Nations climate conferences. This year, the GLF made a bid to emerge from COP's shadow” “The conference stressed global approaches to solving these problems, with sustainable agriculture, education and information as key.” “Robert Nasi, the Director General of CIFOR, highlighted the GLF’s major transition to become a year-round platform.” http://www.globallandscapesforum.org/corporate-news/2017-global-landscapes-forum-bonn-germany-worlds-biggest-gathering-accelerating-action-sustainable-land-use/

Soil testing (nutrients only) now obligatory for farmers at least every 5 years in the UK as part of new ‘rules for water’ package https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/farming-rules-for-water-from-april-2018

UK, “Last week Farming Minister George Eustice outlined how a new round of agri-environment schemes will prioritise soil health as the cornerstone of future farm support.” https://naturalengland.blog.gov.uk/2017/12/05/mulch-ado-about-soil-health/

Outreach and publicity

FAO, Cherishing the ground we walk on: Why we should appreciate our soils http://www.fao.org/fao-stories/article/en/c/1069275/

Books

Tickell, Josh. Kiss the Ground: How the Food You Eat Can Reverse Climate Change, Heal Your Body & Ultimately Save Our World. Simon and Schuster, 2017. http://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Kiss-the-Ground/Josh-Tickell/9781501170256