Soil organic carbon
Why RECSOIL focuses on soil organic carbon (SOC)
RECSOIL seeks to protect and increase SOC: the treasure beneath our feet. As a key indicator of soil health, SOC can be increased through sustainable soil management (SSM). Soil is not dirt. In fact, it is a complex matrix of interacting and dynamic components: a mix of mineral particles, air, water, organic matter and living organisms.
Soil is partly made up of organic matter such as branches, compost, crop waste and other organic materials at various stages of decay. Soil organic matter (SOM) stores and releases the water and nutrients necessary for plant growth and is therefore integral in boosting food production and ensuring robust soil ecosystem services. Soil organic matter is integral to soil function and the provision of soil ecosystem services.
The largest component of SOM is SOC. On a global scale, the top 30 cm of soil contains more carbon than the atmosphere and vegetation combined. When soil is managed unsustainably, soil carbon is released into the atmosphere and exacerbates climate change. However, when agricultural practices foster carbon sequestration soil becomes a carbon sink. Therefore, RECSOIL aims to harness this positive potential of the soil by providing incentives to farmers to implement practices that increase SOC. This not only encourages climate change adaptation and mitigation, but boosts soil health overall, which increases food production and improves farmer livelihoods.
RECSOIL provides a robust toolkit to measure not only SOC, but other indicators connected with soil health, including bulk density, soil respiration and agricultural. Additionally, RECSOIL pilot projects often measure soil nutrients, soil acidity and other indicators to ensure that the practices selected to sequester carbon in soils are also improving soil health holistically. Soil data is critical to determining locally appropriate SSM practices in RECSOIL pilot projects and adjusting along the way to optimize soil management for soil health.
The Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils (ITPS) defines soil health as "the ability of the soil to sustain the productivity, diversity, and environmental services of terrestrial ecosystems." SOC is an essential ingredient in allowing soils to provide these services, making it a key indicator of soil health.
Healthy soils contribute to the following:
- food security, nutrition and farm livelihoods;
- essential ecosystem services;
- meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs);
- mitigating climate change; and
- fostering agricultural resilience to extreme climatic events.
Soil carbon monitoring protocols can also be a powerful tool for promoting appropriate soil governance, as SOC is a key indicator under the three Rio Conventions, and can propel countries to meet their Nationally Determined Contributions, Land Degradation Neutrality Targets and Kunming-Montreal Targets. Furthermore, locally tested sustainable soil management practices that bolster ecosystem services can inform incentive mechanisms such as soil-based payments for ecosystem services, as well as contribute to legislation that promotes sustainable soil and land management.
Through providing clear protocols to measure and monitor SOC while improving soil health, RECSOIL aims to provide actionable strategies for soil management that improve farmer livelihoods and contribute to soil governance.