{{menu_nowledge_desc}}.

CIFOR–ICRAF publishes over 750 publications every year on agroforestry, forests and climate change, landscape restoration, rights, forest policy and much more – in multiple languages.

CIFOR–ICRAF addresses local challenges and opportunities while providing solutions to global problems for forests, landscapes, people and the planet.

We deliver actionable evidence and solutions to transform how land is used and how food is produced: conserving and restoring ecosystems, responding to the global climate, malnutrition, biodiversity and desertification crises. In short, improving people’s lives.

Innovations in soil health monitoring for nature and people

WLE research and innovation – the road from UNFSS to COP26

Soil health is the foundation of our food systems. It is also critical for climate change mitigation and adaptation, enhancing above and belowground biodiversity, contributing to ecosystem restoration goals, and increasing food and nutrition security. However, it is estimated that over 40% of the Earth’s surface is degraded, severely limiting the soil’s capacity to deliver these critical ecosystem services.

There is growing momentum around the importance of soil health, from initiatives such as 4p1000, Global Soil Partnership and the UN Food System Summit inspired Coalition of Action for Soil Health.

Investments in soil health are needed in order reach the targets of the UNFCCC, UNCCD , UNCBD as well as the UN Food Systems Summit.

These investments must focus on the barriers that are currently limiting the scaling and adoption of healthy soil practices, most notably in finance mechanisms that reward farmers, creating an enabling policy environment and application of robust monitoring techniques to track changes in soil health over time.

This session will showcase the latest advances in the monitoring of soil health and land restoration, evidence on the relationship between soil health and the provision of multiple ecosystem services, and on how these advances and evidences are informing policy interfaces. Opportunities for improving soil monitoring frameworks application and enhancing the connection of this with policy making will be further discussed during this session.

Event website Registration

Moderator

Marcela Quintero

Co-leader of Restoring Degraded Landscapes
Biodiversity-CIAT

Panelists

Rattan Lal

Distinguished Professor of Soil Science at Ohio State University, Member of the Biden-appointed committee, Board for International Food and Agriculture Development (BIFAD)

Paul Luu

Executive Secretary, 4 per 1000 Initiative

Ermias Betemariam

Land Health Scientist, CIFOR-ICRAF

Viridiana Alcantara-Shivapatham

Senior Program Officer, Verra

Marlène Elias

Senior Scientist-Multifunctional Landscapes
Alliance and Gender Research Coordinator for the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry, Biodiversity-CIAT