Through the Global Soil Partnership (GSP), FAO, the Beijing Municipal Agriculture Bureau and the Beijing Soil Fertilizer Extension Service Station have agreed to co-organize the International Symposium on Soil health and Sustainable Development – A Strategy for “The Belt and Road” as a contribution to the promotion of sustainable soil management along the Belt and Road, advocating the establishment of soil protection laws, systems and mechanisms in countries along the Belt and Road, through the implementation of the VGSSM providing a common platform for experts. At the end of the symposium, it is expected to announce" The Belt and Road healthy soils declaration" and the main symposium output will be a policy-oriented document based on scientific evidence showing the pathways toward SSM implementation and highlighting success stories and technological innovations in this field. The document will provide specific recommendations for adopting, upscaling and supporting SSM. The symposium is expected to serve as a platform for enhancing collaboration and synergies to move SSM forward and achieve implementation in countries along the Belt and Road and all the other regions of the world. 

Aim and Objectives

The overall aim of the symposium is to review the knowledge, status of adoption of sustainable soil management and the related gaps, barriers that need to be addressed for full implementation, taking note of emerging technologies, innovative management systems and mechanisms. This will serve as a basis for discussing and identifying strategies to upscale the use of SSM practices in countries along the Belt and Road and other different regions of the world, in particular in developing countries. Also, the role of support mechanisms including incentives, regulatory frameworks and policies shall be addressed during the symposium. This will encourage more scientists, technicians, managers and policymakers to preserve valuable soil resources in harmony with large-scale construction and protection of cultivated land. This symposium constitutes a contribution to the efforts for further implementing the Voluntary Guidelines for Sustainable Soil Management and promoting the global protection of cultivated land, the construction of ecological civilization and the sustainable development of agriculture. 

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