Virtual meeting | 3 December 2021 

• Mr Lifeng LI, FAO’s Director Office of Land and Water Division (NSL) 
• Video-message by Ms Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Biodiversity
• EU Mission - Concrete solutions for our greatest challenges - Ms Kerstin Rosenow, Head of Unit, European Commission, DG Agriculture and Rural Development
• Mr François Pythoud, Special Envoy for International Sustainable Agriculture, Swiss Federal Office of Agriculture

INTERNATIONAL NETWORK ON SOIL BIODIVERSITY (NETSOB)

• Introduction to the meeting: setting the scene - Mr Ronald Vargas, FAO-GSP Secretariat
• NETSOB’s objectives, governance, technical working groups and work plan - Ms Rosa Cuevas Corona, FAO-GSP Secretariat

MAIN GLOBAL SOIL BIODIVERSITY INITIATIVES/STAKEHOLDERS

• Action Plan of the International Initiative for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Soil Biodiversity - Ms Sakhile Koketso, CBD
• FAO's Commission on Genetic Resources: microorganisms and invertebrates - Ms Irene Hoffmann, Secretary of the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, FAO 
• Global Initiative of Crop Microbiome and Sustainable Agriculture - Mr Brajesh Singh, President and Scientific Chair 
• Global Soil Biodiversity Initiative - Ms Diana Wall, Scientific Chair of the Global Soil Biodiversity Initiative
• EUSO Soil Biodiversity Technical Working Group - Mr Alberto Orgiazzi, European Commission Joint Research Centre
• Soil Biodiversity Observation Network - Mr Carlos Guerra, Co-Lead of the global Soil Biodiversity Observation Network 
• The Global Fungal Red List - Mr Gregory Mueller, Chicago Botanic Garden
• Digital availability of soil biodiversity data - Mr Dmitry Schigel, Global Biodiversity Information Facility, Secretariat 
• IUCN Global Species Programme Red List - Mr James Westrip, International Union for Conservation of Nature 

Artistic video: Photographing soil animals (Andy Murray)

OFFICIAL LAUNCH

• Governance of NETSOB
  • Endorsement of the mission, objectives and goals
  • Endorsement of the TOR’s Chair and Vice-chairs
  • Presentations from the candidates (2 minutes each)
  • Election of Chair and Vice-chairs

An artistic perspective of soil biodiversity (Fossick Project)

• Discussion of the objectives and priorities by the technical working groups (WGs) - Ms Rosa Cuevas Corona, FAO-GSP Secretariat
  • Technical WG 1: measurement, assessment and monitoring of soil biodiversity
  • Technical WG 2: sustainable use and management, and conservation of soil biodiversity
  • Technical WG 3: economics of soil biodiversity
  • Technical WG 4: policies and legal instruments related to soil biodiversity
• GLOSOLAN and NETSOB - Mr Filippo Benedetti, FAO-GSP Secretariat
• GLOSIS and NETSOB - Mr Yusuf Yigini, FAO-GSP Secretariat
• Towards the Global soil Biodiversity Observatory (GLOSOB) - Mr George Brown, Embrapa and Ms Rosa Cuevas Corona, FAO-GSP Secretariat

CONCEPT NOTE | TERMS OF REFERENCE - CHAIR and VICE-CHAIR | SELECTION CRITERIA for the CHAIR and VICE-CHIAR of NETSOB