Thanks to the financial support of the Korean Rural Development Administration, the GSP is currently implementing a project to enhance the national capacities on soil mapping, including regional training sessions to produce or update national soil maps. The maps will also be included in the Soil Atlas of Asia to be launched at the 22nd World Congress of Soil Science (WCSS 22) from 31 July to 5 August 2022 in Glasgow, Scotland.

The AFACI project helps member countries to:

• Build consistent and updated national soil information systems to contribute to the GSP’s Global Soil Information System (GloSIS);
• Share and transfer soil knowledge and state of the art technologies on digital soil mapping within and beyond the region;
• Provide soil information to all those with an interest in sustainable soil and land management;
• Train a new generation of experts in modern soil mapping for sustainable soil management.

The last training session of the AFACI project was held from 17 January to 21 January 2022. The national principal investigators (soil scientists and experts) from 13 AFACI countries were introduced to the theoretical foundation behind the Global Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration Potential Map (GSOCseq) in a hands-on training on Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) sequestration potential modelling and mapping. SOC sequestration is central to mitigate the consequences of anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Mapping SOC sequestration potential helps to identify soils where sustainable soil management (SSM) practices are recommended for increase in SOC stocks while halting soil degradation and ensuring food security.

The GSOCseq initiative helps AFACI countries to:

• Support the fulfilment of bilateral environmental agreements, such as the Paris Agreement and the recent COP26 agreements;
• Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically the Goals on zero hunger (SDG 2), climate action (SDG 13), and life on land (SDG 15);
• Set carbon sequestration targets to fulfil Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) as well as regional carbon neutrality commitments such as the European Green Deal;
• Achieve national Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) commitments;
• Implement and develop the Koronivia Joint Work on Agriculture (KJWA).

The GSOCseq is envisioned to support policymakers and researchers by:

• Coordinating action and fostering international co-operation by providing a data-driven knowledge base;
• Identifying and mapping areas with high sequestration potential to leverage SSM (Voluntary Guidelines on Sustainable Soil Management; (VGSSM))
• Providing a framework for countries to exchange knowledge in a harmonized and effective way;
• Supporting the provision of incentives to farmers implementing SOC-centered SSM practices under GSP’s RECSOIL facility

The map in detail:

The GSOCseq map follows the same process used for the preparation of the Global Soil Organic Carbon map (GSOCmap) and the Global Soil Salinity map (GSSmap): a bottom-up country-led approach. Member countries are invited to generate national SOC sequestration potential maps by simulating SOC stocks over a 20-year period in agricultural lands under four different scenarios. The scenarios comprise a business as usual (BAU) scenario and three scenarios varying in the degree of adoption (low, middle and high) of SSM.

More details regarding the technical specifications and country guidelines provided by the GSP can be found in the Technical specifications and country guidelines for Global Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration Potential Map (GSOCseq) as well as the recently published GSOCseq Technical Manual.

Related links

Technical specifications and country guidelines for Global Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration Potential Map (GSOCseq)

Global Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration Potential Map (GSOCseq) Technical Manual

Soil information and data |  Soil Organic Carbon |  GSOCmap |  RECSOIL |  INSII

The Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration Potential Modeling Training

The first day of the training kick-started with an opening speech delivered by Dr. Park Joungyoon, AFACI Senior Deputy Secretary-General. Participants were introduced to the GSOCseq initiative as well the expected deliverables and timeline of the AFACI project. Additionally, participants were given a presentation about to the underlining theory of the proposed methodology which makes use of the process-based RothC model. During the second day of the training, participants were given an introduction the R language and the RStudio IDE. Finally, throughout the second and third training days, participants received advice on the necessary steps to prepare the required input data for the modelling and mapping exercise. On the fourth and fifth day, the participants were shown how to use the prepared data to model SOC sequestration potential using the R language for agricultural lands based on three SSM scenarios. The last 30 minutes of each of the training days were dedicated to tackling specific questions, ranging from theory to basic R troubleshooting, in Zoom breakout rooms. CHECK OUT THE PHOTOGALLERY