The observance of the World Soil Day 2021 and its campaign “Halt soil salinization, boost soil productivity” aims to raise awareness of the importance of maintaining healthy ecosystems and human well-being by addressing the growing challenges in soil management, fighting soil salinization, increasing soil awareness and encouraging societies to improve soil health.
There are naturally saline or sodic soils, which harbor valuable ecosystems, and include a range of plants that are adapted to extreme conditions. However, secondary salinity and sodicity can develop or increase rapidly in response to unsustainable human activities, posing a threat to agricultural production, food security, the provision of essential ecosystem services as well as the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
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 #agriculturalproduction, #foodsecurity and sustainability in arid and semi-arid regions.
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Salt-affected soils: discovering a missed reality
EVENTS: Get to know all events around the world and register yours!
Upcoming events
- Third Workshop of the International Network of Black Soils (INBS) from 13 Dec 2021 to 14 Dec 2021, Online
- Global Symposium on Soil Fertility from 02 May 2022 – 05 May 2022, FAO headquarters, Rome, Italy
To commemorate the Observance of World Soil Day 2021, The FAO will hold a virtual ceremony on 3 December (12:30 – 13:30 CET) with the participation of the FAO Director-General and thousands of soil enthusiasts. Artistic performances and keynotes will animate the ceremony and the winners of the Glinka World Soil Prize and King Bhumibol WSD award will also be announced. Interpretation will be available in the six UN official languages. Register here!
World Soil Day 2021. A virtual ceremony on 3 December (12:30 – 13:30 CET)
World Soil Day 2021 – Halt soil salinization, Boost soil productivity, FAO headquarters, Rome, Italy
Launch the International Network on Soil Biodiversity (NETSOB)
FAO’s Global Soil Partnership at 14:00 CET will launch the International Network on Soil Biodiversity (NETSOB), as per the recommendations of the Outcome Document of the Global Symposium on Soil Biodiversity “Keep soil alive, protect soil biodiversity”.
Global Symposium on Salt-affected Soils (GSAS21)
20-22 October 2021 | Time: 13.00-16.00 CEST
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Global Symposium on Salt-affected Soils (GSAS21) “Halt soil salinization, boost soil productivity” was held in a virtual format from 20 to 22 October 2021.
This science-policy meeting was organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, its Global Soil Partnership (GSP), the Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils (ITPS), together with the Science Policy Interface of United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (SPI-UNCCD), the Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS), the International Center on Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA), the International Network of Salt-Affected Soils (INSAS), and the Global Framework on Water Scarcity in Agriculture (WASAG).
Salinization and sodification of soils are among the most serious global threats to arid and semi-arid regions but also for croplands in coastal regions and in case of irrigation with wastewater in any climate. The main objectives of the Symposium are to share knowledge on salinity prevention, management, and adaptation and to establish critical connections between science, practice, and policy by facilitating discussion among policy makers, food producers, scientists, and practitioners for sustainable management of salt-affected soils.
Documents
Innovative digital tools to enhance food security in Africa
A contribution to debates on the EU Comprehensive Strategy with Africa. The discussions will explore the importance of rights-based approaches in promoting climate-resilient food systems that strengthen societies and restore the agency of African populations in driving decision making on Africa’s future.
Sustainable soil management vital for agri-food systems
The Global Soil Partnership (GSP) hosted the ninth Plenary Assembly (PA) from the 8 to the 10 September 2021 – an annual gathering of global experts and policymakers to troubleshoot some of the hurdles faced in finding innovative solutions to ensure soils in countries around the world are conserved and sustainably managed.
WEBINARS
A webinar launching the Global Assessment of Soil Pollution report was held on the 4th of June 2021, as part of the World Environment Day celebrations and the launch of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. Several renowned guests highlighted the threats that soil pollution presents to human and environmental health, both on a global and on a regional perspective. The report and its summary, coordinated by the FAO’s GSP, the ITPS, and UNEP, are the product of an inclusive process involving scientists from all regions. It considers both point source contamination and diffuse pollution, and details the risks and impacts of soil pollution on human health, the environment and food security..
Conversations
Use the hashtags #WorldSoilDay to join the conversations on this year’s thematic Halt soil salinization, boost soil productivity.
Poster drawing contest: Kids2kids: TAKE PART!
Let the little ones to know the importance of soils
In order to educate children about the need for healthy soils, FAO published “Salty experiments with soil for children” in which they will start a journey to discover how food begins beneath our feet; the second initiative is “Living in the soil“, a story in comic format to learn soil’s secrets and possible solutions to keep it alive.
The main soil degradation process are: (1) soil erosion by water and wind; (2) Development of extreme soil reaction (acidification; salinization/alkalization); (3) physical degradation (structural destruction; compaction; extreme moisture regime); (4) biological degradation; (5) unfavourable changes in the nutrient …
IUSS Bulletin 138 (22 MB)
Many authoritative international scientific institutions and societies aim at sustainable intensification as a possible response to the greater agri-food needs of a growing world population and the need to reduce the environmental impact of agricultural and forest products. Sustainable intensification aims to increase production while reducing the environmental impacts of the processes involved. A win-win strategy to raise the general level of sustainability of agriculture, helping the economic sustainability of agricultural enterprises and protecting the environment. The innovations that are proposed in the various production sectors are many and they all need to deal with simple and meaningful sustainability indicators. As for soil indicators, FAO has recently published a reference protocol for monitoring a set of soil properties sensitive to management change
World Soil Day 