Fourth Working Session of the International Network of Soil Information Institutions (INSII) 6-8 November 2018 | FAO HQ – German Room, Rome, Italy

1. Technical Manual on SOC
management
Ms. Rosa Cuevas

2. Historic trends in soil carbon stocks
Magnitude of SOC loss since
1850:
• 47 to 104 Pg for different
biomes
• 66 to 90 Pg for major soils
Status of the
World's Soil
Resources

3. Estimates of the historic C
loss are useful as a reference
point for assessing the
technical potential of C
resequestration in soil.
The rate of SOC sequestration
with adoption of
recommended technologies
depends on:
• Soil texture and structure
• Rainfall
• Temperature
• Farming system
• Soil management
Lal, 2016

4. • Priority action should be to stabilize and/or
increase the global SOM stocks (e.g. SOC
and soil organisms).
• Each nation should identify locally
appropriate SOC-improving management
practices and facilitate their
implementation.
Status of the World's Soil Resources

5. Mulching Cover cropping
Integrated Nutrient
Management
Rhizobium
Complex farming
systems
No-till
Sustainable management
Lal, 2017

6. Recommendation 3: In estimates of the potential
for SOC sequestration, include the full GHG balance
and consider possible interactions between the
carbon and nitrogen cycles that could affect the
climate change mitigation potential of applied
practices.
Recommendation 4: The design of implementation
strategies and appropriate soil and land
management practices for SOC protection and
sequestration should consider land use and the
local environmental, socio-economic, cultural and
institutional contexts, and potential barriers to
adoption.

7. Technical manual on SOC management at the
regional and sub-regional scale
• This WG represented a response to the urgent need to
identify and compile management practices and LUS
that promote the preservation and/or enhancement of
SOC stocks.
“Promote sustainable management of soil resources for
soil protection, conservation and sustainable
productivity”

8. Recommended
management practices and
actions for preservation
and/or enhancement of
SOC
1. Unmanaged and Protected Lands
(including virgin forests, rangelands,
grassland, shrublands,
2. Forestry (managed/silviculture).
3. Forestry with agricultural or livestock
activities: agroforestry, silvopastoral
systems.
4. Grassland, shrublands, and bare and
sparse areas with low, moderate, and high
livestock density.
5. Rainfed agriculture - subsistence and
familiar.
6. Rainfed agriculture – commercial.
7. Irrigated agriculture.
8. Rainfed or irrigated agriculture with
livestock.
9. Urban areas.
10. Wetlands with agricultural activities.
Structure of the technical manual on SOC management

9. • Description of the practice: Region and/or country where the practice can
be applied, measurements and evidence-based results with the adequate
statistical accuracy (include data from meta-analysis).
• Context: Local environmental, socio-economic, cultural and institutional
contexts.
• Trade-offs: Possible synergies and co-benefits or conflicts with other
practices.
• Potential barriers to adoption: Considerations for adoption within the
cultural and socio-economic context. Possible side effects that could
negatively affect the climate change mitigation potential of the practice.
• Benefits and management recommendations: Soil processes that enable
SOC preservation and/or increase, case studies and success stories of
effective practice adoption and achieved SOC/SOM
preservation/increase.
• Potential of C sequestration: For the recommended management
practices, including the possible trade-offs of SOC sequestration efforts
when assessing the full GHG balance.
Structure of the technical manual on SOC management

10. Special chapter on carbon-rich soils

11. Dr. Rosa Poch (Spain). ITPS Chair
Dr. Lucía Helena Cunha dos Anjos (Brazil). ITPS Pillar 5 Chair
Dr. Matshwene Edwin Moshia III (South Africa)
Dr. Edmond Hien (Burkina Faso)
Dr. David Allen Lobb (Canada)
Dr. Costanza Calzolari (Italy)
Dr. Fernando Garcia Préchac (Uruguay)
Dr. Peter de Ruiter (The Netherland)
Dr. Nsalambi Vakanda Nkongolo (DRC)
ITPS working group on soil organic
carbon

12. TIMELINE
• Submission of chapters – by 30 November 2018
• Editing to harmonize chapters (ITPS/GSP Secretariat, feedback
process with lead authors) - by 30 December 2018.
• Review by ITPS/UNCCD-SPI/IPCC and other stakeholders – by
31 January 2019.
• Preparation of final version – by 30 March 2018.
• Final review and clearance by ITPS – by 30 April 2018
• Layout and printing – by 30 May 2019.
• Launch of the Technical Manual on Soil Organic Carbon
management at the regional and sub-regional scale during the
seventh Plenary Assembly of the Global Soil Partnership – from
5 to 7 June 2019.

13. Thanks for your
attention