There is now additional impetus in the effort to ensure that the world
mountain soils, which are the
fragile foundations of ecosystems that ultimately provide water for more than
half the world's population, are preserved, reports NaijaAgroNet.
This
move was enhanced with the publication of a new FAO book which offers technical insights on the
sustainable management of mountain soils, which are home to a vast array of
human activities ranging from quinoa cultivation in the Andes through European
ski resorts to the collection of medicinal plants in Tajikistan's "roof of
the world" Pamir range.
ErmannoZanini,
an expert on glaciers and natural risks and professor at the University of
Turin said, the
book aims to "promote the
sustainable management of mountain soils on behalf of mountain peoples - who
are often marginalized, not included in decision-making processes and
development programmes, and increasingly affected by soil-related
disasters."
"Understanding
Mountain Soils," published by FAO with the Mountain Partnership
Secretariat, the Global Soil Partnership and the University of Turin,
contains a host of case studies from around the world covering human,
productive and geological issues, NaijaAgroNet gathered.
"Mountain
soils are particularly susceptible to climate change, deforestation,
unsustainable farming practices and resource extraction methods that affect
their fertility, trigger land degradation, desertification and disasters such
as floods and landslides, leading to poverty," FAO Director-General Jose
Graziano da Silva writes in the preface to the volume.
The
book, NaijaAgroNet
discovered revealed the main features of mountain soil systems, their
environmental, economic and social values, the threats they are facing and
their cultural heritage. Case studies provided by Mountain Partnership members
include how shade-grown coffee improves soil conservation, the surprising
carbon storage powers of the windblown Scottish
coastline, the viability of shifting cultivation in Bangladesh's Chittagong Hill Tracts,
and unusual peat bogs in Lesotho.
Cyriacus Nnaji/ GEE