This presentation was made during the Asian Soil Partnership workshop that took place in Bangkok 14-16 December 2017. The presentation was made by Dr. Ronald Vargas.

1. The Voluntary Guidelines for Sustainable
Soil Management
Ronald Vargas, GSP Secretary

2. 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.

3. 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;

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

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. Cuts across all 5 GSP Pillars but especially
Pillar 1
(Sustainable Soil Management)
Sustainable soil management
implementation
Identify site-specific priorities, systems
and practices

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. Ways to advocate the use of the VGSSM
Pillar 2
Public
Awareness
Education
Policy
Technical
Cooperation
Investment
Extension

11. Thanks for your attention