The Voluntary Guidelines for Sustainable Soil Management

Ronald Vargas, GSP Secretary

OBJECTIVES

To present generally accepted, practically

proven and scientifically based principles to promote

SSM and to provide guidance to all stakeholders

on how to translate these principles into practice, be it for farming, pastoralism, forestry or more general

natural resources management.

Endorsed by the FAO Council on

5 December 2016

Outline of the VGSSM

• They are of voluntary nature and are not legally binding;

• They elaborate the principles outlined in the revised World Soil Charter;

• They take into account the evidence provided in the SWSR;

Elaborate on technical details by developing technical manuals to address 10 major soil threats

Outline of the VGSSM

• They are of voluntary nature and are not legally binding;

• They elaborate the principles outlined in the revised World Soil Charter;

• They take into account the evidence provided in the SWSR;

• They address technical aspects of SSM (also key challenges and potential solutions to address them);

• Although initial focus was on agriculture, it was broadened to address

ecosystem services provided by soils.

The potential target audience of the VGSSM includes:

government officials, policy makers, farmers, pastoralists, forest and land managers,

extension services and agricultural advisors, development partners, civil society, private

sector, academia, etc.

Cuts across all 5 GSP Pillars but especially

Pillar 1(Sustainable Soil Management)

Sustainable soil management implementation

Identify site-specific priorities, systems and practices

The guidelines are not expected to provide detailed recommendations, but are designed to inform strategic and context-specific decision-making at all relevant levels.

They are intended to contribute to global, regional and national efforts towards the eradication of hunger and poverty due to the importance of soils in sustainable development.

VGSSM Implementation

Implementation at national level is up to the national institutions.

The Secretariat will however develop tools for facilitating the implementation in direct

connection with the GSP Pillars.

Ways to advocate the use of the VGSSM

Pillar 2

Public Awareness

Education

Policy

Technical Cooperation

Investment

Extension

Thanks for your attention