Global Soil Partnership

Pillar 5: Harmonization of methods, measurements and indicator for the sustainable management and protection of soil resources

©FAO/Simon Maina

While the availability of soil data and information is dealt with in Pillar 4, it needs to be emphasized that information about soils must first be gathered in a harmonized way; otherwise, experiences cannot be shared and combined.

This is of utmost importance, for example, to utilize soil information for policy development and the building of observation systems. Harmonization and establishing guidelines and standards should not be a goal per se of the GSP. Standardization always implies a cost for the various stakeholders and therefore a clear cost/benefit analysis needs to be provided to justify any standardization activity.

Pillar 5 provides the mechanisms for developing and exchanging globally consistent and comparable harmonized soil information. This refers to soil profile observation and description data, laboratory and field analytical data, and also derived products such as digital soil maps and soil property estimations, and interpreted information based on agreed and representative indicator sets. Thus, Pillar 5 is a basic foundation of Pillar 4, and an enabling mechanism for all GSP pillars providing and using global soil information.

Composition of the Pillar 5 Working Group

Chair: Vacant

Facilitator: Yusuf Yigini (GSP Secretariat)

  AfricaAbdou Rahman Jobe (Gambia)

 

  Asia: Audthasit Wongmaneeroj (Thailand)

 

  Europe: Hakki E. Erdogan (Turkey) / Eurasia: Hukmatullo Ahmadov (Tajikistan)

  Latin America and Caribbean: Floria Bertsch (Costa Rica)

 

  Near East and North Africa: Imad Ghanma 

  North America: Dave Hoover (USA)

 

 South West Pacific: Peter Wilson (Australia)

 

ITPS representative: Lucía Helena Cunha dos Anjos (Brazil)

SDF representative: Fenny van Egmond (The Netherlands)

IUSS representative: John Galbraith (USA)

GLOSOLAN Representative: Nopmanee Suvannang (Thailand)

Representative of ISO: vacant