Toward a global Soil Biodiversity Observatory

January 12, 2022 8:00-10:00 am MT, 16:00-18:00 CET

Moderated by Wim van der Putten (NIOO-KNAW, the Netherlands)

The importance of soils and soil biodiversity to ecosystem functions and human health in the era of anthropogenic climate change is now recognized, but only ~1% of soil biodiversity is described. The UN Global Soil Partnership (GSP) Global Soil Biodiversity Observatory (GLOSOB) will aim to monitor and forecast the condition of soil biodiversity and will serve as the framework for developing policies, promoting sustainable soil practices, and developing national capacities on the state-of-the-art tools and methods on soil biodiversity and soil health assessment and maintenance. This includes strengthening knowledge on all soil biodiversity groups by addressing monitoring, sustainable use, and conservation of soil biodiversity as well as the inclusion of soil biodiversity in economic assessments and policies. How can policy be developed from a monitoring program? How will this monitoring network be shaped? What can be learned from other initiatives regarding sampling and standardization? What bottom-up contributions can be made?

Moderated by Wim van der Putten (Netherlands Institute of Ecology), panelists Ronald Vargas (UN FAO), Luca Montanarella (European Commission), Carlos Guerra (SoilBON), and Diana Wall (GSBI) will discuss the formation of the global soil biodiversity observatory.