Webinar on Soil Biodiversity: a nature-based solution?
FAO's Global Soil Partnership is pleased to invite you to its first webinar on Soil Biodiversity as part of the annual campaign dedicated to soil biodiversity with the theme “Keep soil alive, protect soil biodiversity”.
This webinar aims to discuss the global status, gaps and multiple benefits of soil biodiversity as a key contributor in sustaining life in this planet.
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Keynote SpeakersDaphne Miller, Department of Family Medicine, University of California, USA"Whether we are talking about microbes, plants, insects, animals, or humans, there is an abundance of evidence that diversity promotes health and resilience"
Wim H. van der Putten | Netherlands Institute of Ecology, Wageningen, the Netherlands"Soil biodiversity lessons from nature help to suppress soil-borne diseases incidence in crop production systems and develop long-term strategies towards ecologically sustainable food production"
Monica Kobayashi | FAO, Global Soil Partnership"Soil biodiversity plays a pivotal role in the functioning of the Earth’s ecosystems. Healthy soils, plants, animals and humans depend directly on those several functions and services provided by soil organisms that we have taken for granted."
Background Today - 22nd May - we celebrate the “International Day for Biological Diversity” and soil biodiversity plays a pivotal role in the functioning of the Earth’s ecosystems. Soils are widely recognized as a major reservoir of global biodiversity and up to 90% of living organisms in terrestrial ecosystems are associated during their life cycle with belowground habitats. Besides improving soil conditions to grow healthy and nutritious food, soil biodiversity helps to control outbreak of plant, animal and human diseases and contributes to the stabilization of greenhouse gases, air and water purification, as well as mitigation of floods, drought and soil erosion. Soil biodiversity constitutes an important source of genetic resources for biotechnological and medical innovation. Yet, the Status of the World’s Soil Resources concluded that the loss of soil biodiversity is considered one of the major soil threats in many regions of the world. Despite the enormous scientific progress made to date, the protection and monitoring of soil resources at national and global levels face complex challenges, restricting the design and implementation of on-the-ground policies and actions.
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