World Soil Day

As part of World Soil Day , the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) launched its first global report on black soils which highlights how black soils are at greater risk of degradation due to biodiversity loss, increased land use and extreme weather events, such as droughts. Black soils are dark in colour and rich in organic matter, they are found in Russia, Kazakhstan, China, Argentina, Mongolia, Ukraine, the US, Colombia, Canada, and Mexico. Black soil is considered essential to the global food chain and – critically – has a key role to play in climate change mitigation and adaptation as it contains 8.2% of the world’s soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks and can provide 10% of the global SOC sequestration potential. SOC sequestration is not only cost-effective, but can help mitigate climate change by decreasing carbon from the atmosphere. Additionally, the FAO provided a list of resources to support in sharing the message around soil health and vitality.

“Although soils are hidden and frequently forgotten, we rely on them for our daily activities and for the future of the planet,” the FAO chief said, underscoring the important support role they play in mitigating or adapting to a changing climate. Mr. Graziano da Silva specifically pointed to the potential of soils for carbon sequestration and storage – documented in FAO’s global soil organic carbon map . “Maintaining and increasing soil carbon stock should become a priority,” asserted the UN agriculture chief. He also noted how soils act as filters for contaminants, preventing their entry into the food chain and reaching water bodies such as rivers, lakes and oceans, flagging that this potential becomes limited when contamination exceeds the soils’ capacity to cope with pollution. In his message, Mr. Graziano da Silva noted the Global Soil Partnership in which FAO works with governments and other partners to build technical capacity and exchange knowledge on sustainable soil managem...

  About the Soil Organic Carbon (SOC). The GSOCmap provides users with very useful information to  monitor the soil condition , identify degraded areas , set restoration targets , explore SOC sequestrationpotentials , support the greenhouse gas emission reporting under the UNFCCC and make evidence-based decisions to mitigate and adapt to a changing climate . Read the full report!

  The Chemical, Physical and Biological Status of a soil.