Global Forum on Food Security and Nutrition (FSN Forum)

Estimados colegas,

Me permito hacerles llegar, en adjuntos, mis contribuciones a la "consulta electrónica sobre las directrices voluntarias para el manejo sustentable del suelo".

Saludos cordiales,

--

Marco Flores, M.Sc

Coordinador Regional - Proyecto GEF- Chaco

Manejo Sustentable de Bosques en el Ecosistema Transfronterizo

del Gran Chaco Americano

Dear all

You can find in attached files my opinion on the document under discusion it reflects the point of view of someone from a region on the south of Europe that has the opinion that the document a rather generalized one should also reflcet the the problems and threats of semi-arid and dry sub-humid soils.

Neverthless, I Think the document is a good a very soun basis for discussion.

Best Regards

António Perdigão

Dear colleagues,

I appreciate the initiative for "Guidelines for sustainable Soil Management".

Since soil structure is an integral parameter of soil fertility and soil health I would recommend to add some arguments considering this aspect to the current draft (see attached text).

Kind regards

Dear colleagues

I have read with great interest the Guidelines for Sustainable Soil Management. I think that the document is mainly based on agricultural soils and the problems derived from agricultural practices. In my opinion, a draft about “Sustainable Soil Management” should include also other impacts which should cause problems to the soils, such as erosion, salinization, contamination, etc, which are just mentioned or briefly described. In addition, the information about key technical elements to achieve sustainable soil management are few, already known, and again referred mainly to agricultural soils.

About the variety of ecosystem services provided by the soils, they are too general, barely incisive, and are quite distant from the classical definition.

Finally, the guidelines if appropriately improved should be very useful for soil scientists experts in order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

Kind Regards,

Grazia Masciandaro

Dr. Grazia Masciandaro

CNR-ISE

Pisa (Italy)

I am pleased to submit the attached comments on behalf of the Sustainable Soils and Grassland Systems Department at Rothamsted Research.

Dear colleagues,

With great interest I have read the voluntary guidelines on sustainable soil management. Soil is indeed a limited resource with evidently high societal value. Therefor I want to contribute in sharing views about sustainable soil management. 

On headlines I want to make some comments and suggestions to improve this draft version.

• Integrated approach of the soil-sediment-water system;
• In reality it is a system which is more complex instead of a sectoral approach by soil. Agricultural production and security is also depending on the availability of water. And there for the document should not be limited to rural areas, but also extended to the urban areas. Groundwater use in urban areas might have an influence in agricultural areas.
• Sustainable use of land should be done in 4 or 5 dimensions (3 D and a long term vision and sufficient data)
• The guidelines describe processes in a qualified matter without mentioning the instrument to use by the stakeholders. For example, farmers want to have the instruments to contribute in reducing greenhouse gass emissions. So it is more a strategic document for policymakers and not meant for farmers on an operational basis.
• The link between agriculture and the reduction of the effects of climate change is important and could be more emphasized.
• Especially in urban areas starting point is that the quality of the land should be suitable for the function and use of the land. In urban areas with often a legacy of contamination the approach is risk based and not a multifunctional remediation. The cost are too high to make this possible. Moreover this fits within the definition of sustainability: a balance between the three P’s of people, planet and profit. The starting point is to use land in a sustainable way and not only the focus on soil preservation and prevention.
• In the guidelines seems not costs to be involved.

For more detail comments see the attachment. If needed I am willing to clarify and explain the above mentioned points.

Kind regards,

Ing. N.J. Molenaar (Co)

Senior advisor soil and water

.................................................................

Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment

Rijkswaterstaat, WVL Soil plus

Griffioenlaan 2, 3526LA Utrecht (visiting address)

Postbox 2232, 3500GE Utrecht

Dear FSN-Team, dear Colleagues,

I believe that this guideline should include an introduction to highlight why we need sustainable soil management and how to convince key decisional people to act. If solutions are proposed (again) but never adopted then…..

Indeed, urgency to take care of our soils has always been underestimated. One of the main problems to convince key decisional people (e.g Governments and policy makers) is the cost of soil degradation/soil erosion, very difficult to put a number on this…. will be nice that one part of this document is dedicated to “officially” estimating the cost of soil loss based for e.g. on soil fertility/nutrient loss estimation…and an official way to calculate it (at least the on-site impact) ; or adding other important social-economic factors..difficult I know.

I do believe that Prof. Dan Pennock based on his background and experience could add such important info in the final document.

Best regards, LM

Dr. Lionel MABIT | Ph.D Soil Scientist |

Soil and Water Management & Crop Nutrition Laboratory |

Joint FAO/IAEA Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture |

Department of Nuclear Sciences and Applications |

Dear Ronald and Dan

We thank you for giving us the opportunity to comment the zero draft of the VGSSM. We are aware that our task was quite easy, as we don’t have to develop a new document/note but just to comment on what was already done. Some of our suggestions are directly included in the document, some more global comments are here below.

We thank you for the work you accomplished so far and we’re looking forward to contributing to the next version.

For the Swiss team, Elena

Does the zero draft sufficiently outline a way to achieve sustainable soil management worldwide?

This document is mainly/only focused on agricultural use of soils and in that, it is not sufficient for the SSM worldwide. Forest and organic soils should be added (at least, based on our perception, probably soil scientists from other regions may have another point of view)

Have all the key technical elements to achieve sustainable soil management been included in the guidelines?

For agricultural soils: probably the main elements are included. We added some other possible elements (e.g. hedgerows for soil biodiversity).

Do the guidelines take into account the great variety of ecosystem services provided by soils?

Globally yes. Some services such as flood mitigation, drinkable water purification (forest soils) could be more prominent. It would allow promoting the multifunctionnality of soils (e.g. healthy agricultural soils not only provide food but also flood security)

Will the results of the guidelines, once implemented be sufficient enough to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)?

The target 15.3 (restore degraded soils) is not sufficiently taken into account. The current guidelines seem to be mainly focused on goal 12 (food security).

Do the guidelines identify activities that should be avoided to achieve multiple benefits through sustainable soil management?

No

• Sometimes the guidelines are drafted as goal (Plant growth on the field should produce enough growing plants and plant residues for a sufficient cover to exist) while others are meant as measure (Sufficient crop and other organic residues must be left on the field and not removed for other purposes)
• The level of the guidelines (“flight altitude”) is very diverse. Some have a very high policy relevance (Governments and policy makers need to review and adapt existing policies for development of settlements and infrastructure to take account of the value of soils, particularly where subsidies or other incentives are driving unplanned land take and soil. Wherever possible, preservation of productive agricultural land should be a priority), other are very concrete, at user’s level (When mechanized tillage is used for field operations, the implements used must leave a proportion of the plant residues on the soil surface).

Dr Elena Havlicek

Scientific Officer

Federal Office for the Environement FOEN

Soil and Biotechnology Division

Worblentalstrasse 68, 3063 Ittigen

Postal address : CH-3003 Bern

Dear FSN-Team,

I commend you to this concise, carefully framed and very useful document! It clearly presents an outstanding piece of thought that can well foster pathways towards sustainable soil management in the future.

Regarding your first question “Does the zero draft sufficiently outline a way to achieve sustainable soil management worldwide?”, I have noted that the second part of section 4 is largely focussed on conservation agriculture. Broadening this perspective to other important agronomic and structural conservation practices may help to provide a more differentiated outlook on sustainable soil management. In line with this comment I included a few suggestions about potentials for broadening the scope of the guidelines. Pleased find my track changes (starting from p. 17) and a supporting publication attached to this email.

I hope these suggestions may be helpful.

Best regards, Diana Sietz

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Dr. Diana Sietz

Soil Physics and Land Management

Wageningen University

Dear Colleagues

Please find attached a response to the consultation. I hope this is useful and please do contact me should you need any clarification or assistance.

Kind regards

Mark

Mark Kibblewhite MBA PhD CSci CChem FRSC CEnv FIAgrE FISoilSci

Emeritus Professor, Cranfield University

Director - MK Soil Science Ltd

President - Institution of Agricultural Engineers

Emeritus Research Associate, Landcare Research New Zealand