6th European Soil Partnership (ESP) Plenary meeting 28-29 March 2019 FAO headquarters, Rome, Italy Rainer Baritz, Lucrezia Caon

2. GSP Developments of
regional interest for Pillar 5
Mr. Rainer Baritz, Pillar 5 Chair
&
Ms. Lucrezia Caon, GLOSOLAN coordinator, GSP Secretariat

3. Pillar 5 Global Action
Work areas Products Actions 2018
Soil profiles Handbook/Webtool no action
Soil classification Web tool/soil portal no action
Soil mapping Reference mapping
system
no action
Soil analysis Web information system,
ring tests, manual
GLOSOLAN/
RESOLAN
Data exchange Exchange model/tools Contractor: SoilML
exchange standard
Countries to test
Indicators
Evaluation
WIKI, guidelines ToC prepared

4. P5 governance for implementation
Rainer Baritz (acting Chair)
GSP Secretariat Yusuf Yigini, Rosa Cuevas Corona
Europe Hakki Erdogan
Eurasia Hukmatullo Ahmadov
NENA Imad Ghanma
Africa (SSA) Vinod Bhanooduth Lalljee
Asia Audthasit Wongmaneeroj
South Pacific Peter Wilson
North America Curtis Monger
South America Jefé Leáo Ribeiro
Ctl. America Floria Bertsch
ITPS Lucía Helena Cunha dos Anjos
IUSS John M. Galbraith
SDF Fenny van Egmond
GLOSOLAN Nopmanee Suvannang
P4WG tbc (Chair P4WG)
GSP Secretariat
RegionalP5chairs
ITPS: scientific advice
Important GSP Partner
Pillar4

5. P5 Global Action: current discussion
Profile
description:
Demands in several RSPs for a revised guideline
IUSS: items for revision (soil biodiversity, parent
material coding for information processing, links to
classification (WRB-focused)
Soil
Classification:
IUSS: harmonized soil horizon designations:
universal soil classification seems not to be
possible (currently…)
Ideas: definition of broad, universal taxonomic
units, able to support harmonized indicators
Demand for “Onesoil” global soil typological ubits?
(GEOSS?)
New challenge: nested rasters
Pillar 4: interaction and progress with GLOSIS needed
Soil Mapping:

6. Pillar 5 Soil Indicators
indicators to flag sustainability
to practices
SDG 2.4, 15.2
Guideline for SSM
FAO-SoilSTAT
indicators for global soil
statistics/ecosystem accounting
GLOSIS
Indicators in support of
GEOSS, policies (SDG,
UNCCD/LDN, UNCBD,
UNFCCC, SDG 15.3)
Indicator definitions
Specifications
Fact sheets
Relationships to other
domains (water,
agriculture, forestry.…)
Needs
Demand
Literature review, policy review,
terminology, approaches,
recommendations
REPORT

7. Pillar 5 Global Action
Pillar 5 Working Group
- Development of a roadmap for action (status 26 March 2019)
• IUSS: concept note: soil classification and soil
profile description
• Commenting on P4 documents (GLOSIS, soil
profile data bases, SoilSTAT
• Guidance on indicator assessments (P1, P4, P5)
• Improve cooperation global and regional P4 WGs,
INSII and P4
• Assignment of tasks to WG members; needs
assessment (funding, secretariats, regional WGs)

8. Purpose: to improve the quality of soil laboratory data to support decision making at
field and policy levels
Objectives :
1. To strengthen the performance of laboratories through use of standardized
methods and protocols.
2. To harmonize soil analysis methods so that soil information would be
comparable and interpretable across laboratories, countries and regions.
3. To provide a certification for technical competencies in laboratory analysis.

9. Everything you need to know is in the report of the 2nd GLOSOLAN meeting…
Main areas of work:
- Standard Operating Procedure
- Quality control (Proficiency Testing)
- Good laboratory practices
- Harmonization of national and
historical databases (transfer
functions)
- Spectroscopy
- Training and capacity building

10. Foreseen impacts :
o To support decision making at field and policy levels;
o To support countries in reporting on the Sustainable Development Goals and on
other international commitments;
o To contribute to the development of international standards and indicators;
o To contribute to the establishment of the Global Soil Information System (GLOSIS);
o To contribute to the development of harmonized methods for the assessment and
monitoring of degraded lands and/or lands affected by climate change and other
threats, as identified in the Status of the World Soil Resources report;
o To improve the connection between soil chemistry, physics and biology;
o To contribute to and improve soil classification and description (in this regard,
GLOSOLAN should work closer to the other components of Pillar 5);
o To assist companies manufacturing laboratory equipment in improving their
products (and so also potentially open the path for new investments in the network);
o To expand the opportunities for technical and scientific cooperation;
o To strengthen the capability of extension services;
o To identify research needs; and
o To increase investments in research.

11. Global Soil Laboratory Network (GLOSOLAN)
Regional Soil Laboratory
Networks (RESOLANs)
National Reference Laboratories appointed by GSP
national focal points to:
• Transfer information on GLOSOLAN to other labs in their country
• Transfer the knowledge acquired through GLOSOLAN activities to
other labs in their country
• Promote the establishment of National Soil Laboratory Networks

12. RESOLAN-NENA
LATSOLAN
RESOLAN- Africa
RESOLAN-
North America
???
RESOLAN-Pacific
SEALNET
RESOLAN-Europe & Eurasia
March 2018
November 2017
# of countries Nat. Ref.
Lab.
Spontaneous
application
Total
Europe 42 20 41 61
Eurasia 12 5 11 16

13. Action 1: Decide if Europe and Eurasia will work together under GLOSOLAN
(establishment of 1 RESOLAN) or not (establishment of 2 RESOLANs)
Considerations:
- The Pillar 5 Chairs for Europe and Eurasia proposed these regions to work
together. However, at the 2nd GLOSOLAN meeting, laboratories did not
show enthusiasm in proceeding this way. The decision on the numbers of
RESOLANs to establish was remitted to the 6th ESP meeting.
- If 2 RESOLANs will be established, some countries from Eurasia express the
desire to work under RESOLAN-Europe
- Attempts were made to launch the RESOLAN for Europe and Eurasia (1
RESOLAN) in September 2018 but Eurasia found itself moving alone on
this. Need for a stronger follow up from the ESP Secretariat
Action 2: If 2 RESOLANs will be established, Europe should decide if some Eurasian
countries can join their RESOLAN
Action 3: Organization of the launch meeting(s) of this/these RESOLANs