25 May 2016: The Global Soil Biodiversity Initiative (GSBI) and the European Commission (EC) Joint Research Centre (JRC) launched the ‘Global Soil Biodiversity Atlas’ during a side event at the second session of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-2) in Nairobi, Kenya. The Atlas maps global soil biodiversity and discusses threats to it, including from inappropriate land management practices, land conversion from forest to grassland to cropped land and poor water management.

The Atlas highlights the diversity of soil organisms and the ecosystem functions and services provided by soil biota, such as the role of soil in regulating the climate and supporting plant growth. It provides information on the geographical and temporal distribution of soil organisms.

Agricultural systems, overgrazing and poor land and water management constitute key threats to soil biodiversity, the Atlas explains. Additional threats addressed in the Atlas include: climate change; land degradation and desertification; loss of above ground biodiversity; and pollution. The Atlas describes how land conversion can contribute to the rapid loss of soil carbon, which indirectly contributes to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and climate change.

To protect and conserve soils, the Atlas recommends, inter alia: increasing reforestation; diversifying crops; and supporting no-tillage agricultural practices. It addresses recommendations to a range of actors, suggesting, for instance, that governments can enact legislation to protect soil organisms and home gardeners could eliminate use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides.

European Union (EU) Commissioner responsible for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Karmenu Vella, underscored the Atlas’s contribution to the EU Biodiversity Strategy and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, particularly SDG 2 (End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture) and SDG 15 (Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss). In particular, Target 15.3 aims to, by 2030, combat desertification, restore degraded land and soil, including land affected by desertification, drought and floods and strive to achieve a land degradation-neutral world.

More than 70 organizations and over 100 individuals contributed to the Atlas. GSBI, which was launched in 2011, focuses on raising awareness on soils and includes over 800 participants from 88 countries. [JRC Press Release] [GSBI Website] [GSBI Launch Event] [Publication Website] [Publication: Global Soil Biodiversity Atlas]