FAO Publications
Key soil publications
FAO is the lead United Nation’s agency concerned with soils. It hosts the Secretariat of the Global Soil Partnership and has in its long history produced guidelines and manuals on all aspects of soils. FAO assists member countries in soil matters in the field from HQ and Regional FAO offices with advice and project implementation.
| World Soil Day 2020 campaign report | |
| Protocol for the assessment of Sustainable Soil Management | |
| State of knowledge of soil biodiversity – Status, challenges and potentialities. Summary for policy makers | |
| State of knowledge of soil biodiversity – Status, challenges and potentialities | |
| Mainstreaming gender for sustainable soil management | |
| ITPS Soil letter, ISSUE #1, Sep 2020 | |
| Technical specifications and country guidelines for Global Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration Potential Map (GSOCseq) | |
| GSOC MRV Protocol: A protocol for measurement, monitoring, reporting and verification of soil organic carbon in agricultural landscapes | |
| Manual for the implementation of the Global Soil Doctors Programme at the country level | |
| Global Soil Doctors Programme: Soil testing methods manual | |
| Mapping salt-affected soils – Training manuals
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| Recarbonization of global soils FAO card and PDF in English | PDF in Spanish and FAO card | |
| WSD 2019: Overview and key results | |
| Global Symposium on Soil Erosion: Outcome Document | |
| The International Code of Conduct for the Sustainable Use and Management of Fertilizers FAO card and PDF in English | PDF in Arabic and FAO card | PDF in Chinese and FAO card | PDF in French and FAO card | PDF in Russian and FAO card | PDF in Spanish and FAO card | |
| Soil loss Atlas of Malawi | |
| Soil Erosion: the Greatest Challenge for Sustainable Soil Management | |
| GLOSOLAN - The Global Soil Laboratory Network | |
| The multi-faced role of soil in the Near East and North Africa FAO card and PDF in English | FAO card and PDF in French | FAO card and PDF in Arabic | |
| Alianzas regionales de Latinoamérica y el Caribe: Principales logros | |
| Soil and nutrient loss in Malawi: an economic assessment | |
| Soil nutrient loss assessment in Malawi, Technical report | |
| Impact of Soil Loss in Malawi: Macroeconomic effect on GDP, Sectoral Adjustments and Poverty | |
| Impact of Soil Loss in Malawi: Microeconomic effects of soil and nutrient loss. Profitability and mitigation measures | |
| World Soil Day Award factsheet | |
| Glinka World Soil Prize factsheet | |
| Global Soil Partnership factsheet | |
| Proceedings of the GSOP18 | |
| GSOP18 Outcome Document: Be The Solution to Soil Pollution PDF in English and FAO card | PDF in Spanish and FAO card | PDF in French and FAO card | |
| Global Soil Organic Carbon map: Technical Report | |
| Soil Pollution: a Hidden Reality | |
| Soil Organic Carbon Mapping Cookbook 2nd Edition | |
| World Soil Day 2017 | Events around the globe in pictures | |
| The GSOC map information leaflet | |
| Global assessment on the impact of plant protection products on soil functions and soil ecosystems | |
| Be inspired, take the challenge and celebrate soils! | |
| Soil Experiments for CHILDREN | |
| Proceedings of the Global Symposium on Soil Organic Carbon 2017
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| Handbook for Saline Soil Management | |
| Soils' Potential to Contribute to Offset International Aviation Emissions | |
| GSOC17 Outcome Document: Unlocking the Potential of Soil Organic Carbon PDF in English & FAO card | Spanish & FAO card | French & FAO card | |
| Soil Organic Carbon - The Hidden Potential PDF in English & FAO card | French & FAO card | Spanish & FAO card | |
| Voluntary Guidelines for Sustainable Soil Management PDF in English & FAO card | French & FAO card | Spanish & FAO card | Arabic & FAO card | Chinese & FAO card | Russian & FAO card | |
| Soil and Pulses, Symbiosis for Life | |
| Soil Loss Assessment in Malawi | |
| Land resources and food security of Central Asia and Southern Caucasus | |
| Status of the World's Soil Resources Main Report | Technical Summary in English & FAO card (Français & FAO card | Espanol & FAO card) | Brochure | |
| Boosting Africa's Soils | |
| Testing Field Methods for Assessing the Forest Protective Function for Soil and Water | |
| Field Guide for Rapid Assessment of Forest Protective Function for Soil and Water | |
| Revised World Soil Charter (2015) PDF in English & FAO card | French & FAO card | Spanish & FAO card | Arabic & FAO card | Chinese & FAO card | Russian & FAO card | |
| Understanding Mountain Soils: A Contribution from mountain areas to the International Year of Soils 2015 | |
| Farmer's Compost Handbook (2015) | |
| World reference base for soil resources 2014, Update 2015 PDF in English & FAO card | French & FAO card | Russian & FAO card | |
| Soils Challenge Badge | Yunga Booklet (2014) English | Chinese | Spanish | French | Italian | Portuguese | Russian | |
| State of the Art Report on Global and Regional Soil Information (2013) | |
| Soil carbon monitoring using surveys and modelling (2012) | |
| Challenges and Opportunities for Carbon Sequestration in Grassland Systems (2010) | |
| Visual Soil Assessment (VSA) Field Guides (2008) | |
| Harmonized World Soil Database (2009) English (temp) | |
| World Reference Base for Soil resources (2006) Arabic | English | German | Polish | Russian | Turkish | Sloven | Spanish | |
| Guidelines for Soil Description (2006) | |
| Optimizing soil moisture for plant production | |
| Major soils of the World (2002) | |
| Regional Soil and Terrain Databases (1995-2008) | |
| The FAO-UNESCO Soil Map of the World (1974-1980) | |
Soils Bulletins
FAO Soils Bulletins are an historical FAO serie which started in 1965. There are 80 issues and many of those are available in FAO official languages. We are currently in the process of scanning this bulletins therefore some links are not active. However, the full collection will be soon available.
80 |
| The importance of soil organic matter - key to drought-resistant soil and sustained food production, 2005 |
79 |
| Optimizing soil moisture for plant production - the significance of soil porosity, 2003 |
78 |
| Conservation agriculture - case studies in Latin America and Africa, 2001 English | Spanish (soon available) |
77 |
| Soil management and conservation for small farms: strategies and methods of introduction, technologies and equipment, 2000 |
World Soil Resources Reports
World Soil Resources Reports are an historical FAO serie which started in 1961. There are 104 issues and many of those are available in FAO official languages. We are currently in the process of scanning this reports therefore some links are not active. However, the full collection will be soon available.
106 |
| World reference base for soil resources 2014. International soil classification system for naming soils and creating legends for soil maps |
105 |
| Africa and the Carbon Cycle - Proceedings of the Open Science Conference on “Africa and Carbon Cycle: the CarboAfrica project” |
104 |
| Advances in the assessment and monitoring of salinization and status of biosaline agriculture, 2009 |
103 |
| World reference base for soil resources 2006, First update 2007 English | See here for updates and Translation in other 12 languages |
102 |
| Carbon sequestration in dryland soils, 2004 |
