Overview
This module looks at sustainable soil and land management in the context of climate change. It provides technical knowledge on the concepts of sustainable soil management and examines how wide-scale implementation of climate-smart soil and land management practices could enhance climate change adaptation and mitigation. The module also highlights the types of institutions and policies that are important for supporting the broader adoption of sustainable soil and land management practices.
Chapter B7-1 provides an overview of the benefits that can be gained from the successful implementation of sustainable soil and land management practices by increasing the contribution soils can make to building resilient agricultural ecosystems capable of coping with the impacts of climate change and mitigating these impacts. Chapter B7-2 describes the modalities for the adaptive planning of soil and land resources, and how to select the most appropriate practices for a given context based on the assessment of soil and land resources; provides examples of sources of technical information for decision-makers at different levels; and presents tools to enhance the effectiveness of measure to implement and scale up sustainable soil and land management practices. Chapter B7-3 looks at soil and land management practices that support climate change adaptation and mitigation by sequestering carbon sequestration in the soil, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and intensifying production. Expanding the uptake of climate-smart sustainable soil and land management practices requires not only technical knowledge, but also a supportive enabling environment. Chapter B7-4 offers some thoughts on how to create this enabling environment and remove the barriers to the expansion of climate-smart sustainable soil and land management.
Key messages
- Knowing the status and the potential of soil and land resources is fundamental for making decisions about sustainable soil and land management practices that can contribute to climate-smart land use.
- Soils that have been degraded are at much greater risk from the damaging impacts of climate change. Land degradation itself is a driver of climate change and exacerbates its impacts. The rehabilitation of degraded soils, which can be achieved by enhancing soil organic carbon and soil biodiversity, avoiding soil compaction and reducing soil erosion, provides a major opportunity for mitigating climate change.
- The proper selection of sustainable soil and land management options for a given agricultural production system provides an opportunity to implement measures that strengthen climate change adaptation and mitigation and build the resilience of the agricultural ecosystem.
- Integrated soil and land management practices can create optimal conditions for the sustainable production of food, fibre, fodder, bio-energy, tree crops, and livestock, and safeguard or enhance the ecosystem services agricultural production systems depend on.
- The successful implementation of sustainable soil and land management measures requires a supportive enabling environment that can increase the availability of technical expertise and address the barriers that hinder the wider adoption of these measures.
- Support is needed by all stakeholders to implement the Voluntary Guidelines on Sustainable Soil Management and increase the contribution the management of soil and land resources makes to building climate-smart agricultural systems.