The over 190 member countries of the Food
and Agricultural Organization (FAO) have been urged to domesticate the newly
endorsed World Soil Charter (WSC), NajiaAgroNet
reports.
This is coming as the world celebrates the 2015 International Year of Soils, at the 39th FAO
Conference to promote and institutionalize sustainable soil management at all
levels, even as the 13 principles listed in its charter still remains valid
This according to the Global Soil Partners (GSP) is in light of new
scientific knowledge gained over the past 30 years, especially with respect to
new issues such as soil pollution and its consequences for the environment,
climate change adaptation and mitigation and urban sprawl impacts on soil
availability and functions.
The original strong focus of the WSC on land use planning and land
evaluation had to be adjusted; NajiaAgroNet
gathered that, more recent key references and concepts such as the more widely
understood framework of ecosystem services had to be reflected; major
developments in the intervening period such as the outcome of the United
Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) and ensuring spate of
new agreements and the work of the Committee on Food Security had to be
factored in; and the guidelines for action had to be reorganized and expanded
to take account of a broader range of stakeholders.
This was achievable through the Intergovernmental Technical Panel on
Soils (ITPS), tasked with a revised text wide consultations within the
international soil community and submitted to the GSP pleanary Assembly.
NajiaAgroNet
also learnt that the first WSC was conceived and formulated, negotiated and
adopted by the member countries in the 1981 FAO Conference and was a major
normative instrument agreed by member states that the GSP partners was duty-bound
to promote its principles and has requested all member states to move into its
full implementation of the new World Soil Charter.
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