16^th INTERNATIONAL SOIL CONSERVATION ORGANIZATION CONGRESS

16^º  CONGRESO INTERNACIONAL DE LA ORGANIZACION EN CONSERVACION DE SUELO

 

CHAIRMAN:    Erick Zagal

VICE-CHAIRMAN:   Germán Ruiz

 

Organizing Committee

 

Chilean Society of Soil Science 
Erick Zagal 
Claudio Pérez 

National Forest Corporation 
Samuel Francke 
Celso Carnieletto 
     
Agriculture Ministery of Chile

Agriculture and Livestock Service  
Germán Ruiz 
Mario Lagos 
Mario Ahumada 

Universidad Mayor 
Norma Sepúlveda 
Jorge Wicha

 

Universidad de Chile

Manuel Casanova 
SCIENTIFIC COMITEE

 

 

Erick Zagal  
University of Concepcion

ezagal@udec.cl 
 
Germán Ruiz 
Agriculture Ministry of Chile  
german.ruiz@sag.gob.cl E

nglandncia 
Cristian Prat 
Institut de recherche pour le developpment, christian.prat@ird.fr   
olanda paña 
Ildefonso Pla Sentis 
ISCO Board

ipla@macs.udl.cat 
 
José Luis Rubio 
ISCO Board of Director, President of ESSC jose.l.rubio@uv.es  

Estados Unidos de América  
Samir A. El-Swaify,  
ISCO Board, University of Hawaii, USA,

elswaify@hawaii.edu  

Verónica Acosta 
USDA, Agr. Research Service, veronica.acosta.martinez@ars.usda.gob

México  
Jorge Etchevers 
Colegio Post Graduados Chapingo/Montecillo, jetchev@colpos.mx  
Italia 
Miodrag Zlatic 
World Association of Soil and Water Conservation

miodrag.zla@sbb.rs

  
Neal Stolpe,  
University of Concepcion

nstolpe@udec.cl 
 
Cristina Muñoz 
University of Concepcion

cristinamunoz@udec.cl 

Leandro Paulino 
University of Concepcion

lpaulino@udec.cl 

 

 

 

Analí Rosas 
University of Concepcion

arosas@udec.cl  

Celerino Quezada 
University of Concepcion

cequezad@udec.cl  
 
Marcos Sandoval 
University of Concepcion

masandov@udec.cl 
 
Iván Vidal  
University of Concepcion

ividal@udec.cl 
 
Juan A. Barrera  
University of Concepcion

jbarrera@udec.cl 
 
Mario Ahumada  
Agriculture Ministry of Chile 
Universidad Mayor

mario.ahumada@sag.gob.cl 
 
Mario Lagos  
Agriculture Ministry of Chile mario.lagos@sag.gob.cl  
 
Manuel Casanova 
Universidad de Chile

mcasanov@uchile.cl  
 
Samuel Francke  
National Forest Corporation, 
Universidad Mayor

samuel.francke@conaf.cl

 
Celso Carnieletto  
National Forest Corporation,

celso.carnieletto@conaf.cl  

Carlos Ovalle  
Institute of Agriculture Research, Chile. covalle@inia.cl

 

 

 

16^th International Soil Conservation Organization Congress

 

(The land we want for the future must be built today)

 

CONCLUSIONS

From 8 to 12 of November (2010) the 16^th   ISCO Congress was developed with the presence of XXX scientifics, researchers, postgraduated students and professionals. Initially considered the following principal topics to be treated:

• Multidisciplinary assessment of land degradation and desertification at local, national, regional and global scales.
• Interaction between natural ecosystem components (land, water, biodiversity) and socioeconomic indicators and their overall impact on land degradation.
• Impacts of human mismanagement on natural resources and examples of best management practices in reducing land degradation effects.
• State and development of policy options, management strategies, and guidelines for sustainable natural resources use and management.

In this context, the Local Steering Committee ISCO-2010 considered defines six Commissions, in order to organize many works submitted:

• Erosive soil degradation. (President: Celio Chagas; Secretary: Neal Stolpe)
• Biological soil degradation and biological soil constraints (President: Verónica Acosta; Secretary: Cristina Muñoz)
• Chemical soil degradation and chemical soil constraints. (President: Samir A. El-Swaify; Secretary: Osvaldo Salazar)
• Physical soil degradation and physical soil constraints. (President: Reginaldo Barboza da Silva; Secretary: Marco Sandoval).
• Desertification and drylands. (President: Ildefonso Pla Sentís; Secretary: Mario Ahumada).
• Institutional and socio-economic issues. (President: José Luis Rubio; Secretary; Samuel Francke).

The Congress was realized at Campus Huechuraba, Universidad Mayor (Santiago of Chile) and the program considered a time schedule divided in:

I. Invited Key Speakers at beginning of each morning or afternoon:

• Mr. Rattan Lal.  Cellulosic ethanol and soil quality (Conference in video)
• Mr. Carlos Crovetto. The soil. Conservation or improvement.
• Mr. José Luis Rubio. Soil conservation as an environmental, social and food security issue.
• Mr. Germán Ruíz. Incentive system for the recovery of degraded soils. Public-private joint for improving the soil productivity.
• Mr. Walter Luzio. Approach to the distribution of soils in Chile.
• Mr. Ildefonso Pla Sentís. Soil and water conservation under future global changes.
• Mr. Erick Zagal. Greenhouse gas emissions in agricultural soils and some of the strategies to mitigate them .
• Mr. Samir A. El-Swaify. Human dimensions of soil and water management and conservation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

II. Oral work presentations. Each commission worked in three rooms during three days:

 

According to each Commission a total of ?? works were presented and discussed:

 

 

III. Poster work presentations. During the Congress a total of XX posters were presented, which two were prized as (national and international) best works:

 

• Sierra C., R. Olivares. CERO LABRANZA CON MANEJO DE RESIDUOS Y LABRANZA CONVENCIONAL, EN VID DE MESA Crimson Seedless, EN LA COMUNA DE MONTE PATRIA.

 

• Gaspar L., A. Navas, D. Walling, J. Machín. 2010. ASSESSING THE EFFECT OF LAND USE ON SOIL REDISTRIBUTION ON MEDITERRANEAN MOUNTAIN SLOPES USING ²¹⁰Pb_ex AND ¹³⁷Cs.

 

IV. Field excursions. Three travels to different ecological sites were realized to show diverse geomorphologic and productive situations in central Chile (Wednesday 10 Nov.):

 

• Full Day Andean Mountain: Maipo Valley - Winery Concha y Toro - National Forest Reserve (Clarillo River).
• Full Day Coastal Range: San Pedro Watershed Erosion Project - Coastal Beach (Santo Domingo)- Leyda Winery. 
• Full Day Pacific Ocean: Casablanca Valley- Winery Emiliana- National Forest Reserve  (Peñuela´s Lake).

 

 

All works presented were printed in two documents and distributed:

 

• ISCO-Chile. 2010a. 16^th International Soil Conservation Organization Congress Proceeding. Conferences and Abstracts. Casanova M., Ruíz G., Zagal E. (Eds). 17? p.

 

• ISCO-Chile. 2010b. 16^th International Soil Conservation Organization Congress Proceeding. Works in extenso. Casanova M., Ruíz G., Zagal E. (Eds). 400 p.

 

A general tour-guide was prepared to Field Excursions:

 

• Casanova M., Salazar O., Ruíz G. 2010. General Overview of Physical Chile for Field workshops, 16^th International Soil Conservation Organization Congress. 37 p.

 

Preliminary conclusions within each commission were prepared and discussed with assistants, then were presented in a plenary session during Friday 12 Nov.:

 

 

Erosive soil degradation Commission. Conclusions

Celio Chagas, Neal Stolpe and Christian Prat.

 

Temáticas abordadas en la Comisión de Degradación Erosiva de las Tierras:

 

• Políticas para el control de la degradación, transferencia de tecnología y adopción de prácticas incluyendo los problemas institucionales al realizar proyectos de desarrollo sin tener en cuenta la degradación de las tierras.
• Estudios integrales de degradación a escala de cuenca, de paisaje y regionales.
• Estudios específicos de interacción entre escurrimiento, erosión y manejo de los suelos.
• Pedogénesis y su relación con la degradación de suelos.
• Estudios metodológicos, de investigación básica y empleo de modelos predictivos de degradación.

 

Hubo 19 presentaciones orales y 15 pósters sobre esta temática. Asistieron a esta Comisión entre 30 y 40 personas, que representaron a 11 países: Chile, Venezuela, Colombia, Brasil, Argentina, España, Estados Unidos, Austria, Italia, Francia y China.

 

En general se ha reafirmado lo que ya se conocía acerca de:

 

• Conocer los tipos y grado de limitaciones de uso del suelo para realizar una planificar racional del mismo, empleando sistemas como la clasificación por capacidad de uso de las tierras y adaptándola de acuerdo a la escala apropiada. 
• Se registran menores pérdidas de suelo con buena cobertura de rastrojos, vegetación viva, rugosidad superficial, labranzas conservacionistas  y con prácticas estructurales y complementarias.
• Los modelos y los sistemas de información geográfica pueden apoyar la planificación del uso del suelo tomando en cuenta la elección de la escala adecuada.
• Los planes de manejo integrado de cuencas permiten hacer un uso racional de las mismas.
• Los planes gubernamentales de conservación de suelos deben basarse necesariamente en conocimientos adecuados acerca de la degradación de las tierras. 

 

Se plantean los desafíos futuros siguientes:

 

• Tener siempre presente que el suelo constituye un organismo vivo.
• Asociar desde un principio a los productores rurales en los planes de manejo integrado de cuencas.
• Fomentar la educación en diferentes niveles académicos acerca de las temáticas planteadas respecto del suelo y el agua
• Intensificar el conocimiento de la relación suelo/agua.
• Tener en cuenta los servicios ecosistémicos del suelo y el agua en los estudios de degradación.
• Tender a mejorar el suelo y no solo a conservarlo en la medida que las circunstancias lo permitan, mejorando también la gestión de los recursos hídricos.
• Enfocarse más en actuar sobre las causas de la degradación y no solamente en sus consecuencias.
• Incorporar la temática del cambio global, la variabilidad climática y la ocurrencia de eventos extremos, en los estudios acerca de la degradación de suelos y aguas.
• Incentivar las políticas que apuntan a las producciones sustentables a nivel de los distintos países.
• Considerar la problemática de la desaparición de tierras productivas por efectos del avance de la urbanización y de las vías de comunicación.
• Conservar y/o ampliar el número y las superficies destinadas a los campos experimentales donde se prueban prácticas de manejo para el control de procesos degradativos.
• Promover la implementación de observatorios para monitorear la evolución a largo plazo del funcionamiento de los sistemas agro-forestal-urbanos. Esto serviría además como referencia a nivel nacional y mundial, en particular respecto de la gestión del carbono.
• Promover la investigación acerca de las prácticas de manejo del suelo y el agua que permitan reducir el consumo de energía y hacer un uso eficiente de la misma
• Promover la agricultura orgánica y de manera más general sistemas agropecuarios-forestales ecónomos en insumos basados en recursos no renovables (temáticas de plaguicidas y agroquímicos).
• Promover la realización de trabajos experimentales que tomen en cuenta los recursos naturales y los aspectos económico-sociales.
• Integrar en la legislación las temáticas sobre conservación de suelos y aguas. 
• Utilizar los fondos de crédito de carbono para financiar las iniciativas antes mencionadas.  

 

 

Biological/Chemical soil degradation and biological/chemical soil constraints Commission. Conclusions.

Verónica Acosta, Samir A. El- Swaify, Cristina Muñoz, Osvaldo Salazar and Jorge Paolini

 

• We had very diverse talks during Tuesday morning and Thursday afternoon session of soil biological properties and biological constraints
• Talks provided an overview of soil management in South America, from Brazil and Chile, as affected by no-tillage, manure, biosolids and the combination of no-tillage with crop rotations.
• The talks highlighted the sensitivity of the soil microbial component to management and how they are early indicators of other soil properties, possibly providing indications of changes in soil quality and functioning.
• One of the talks was about soil mycorrhizal fungi as affected by no-tillage, as well as other soil properties, on the site maintained by our colleague Mr. Carlos Crovetto from Chequen Chile, who presented o Tuesday morning.
• It was interesting the overview given of the importance of mycorrhiza for plant nutrition and water availability and for the soil nutrient cycling, and the fact that glomalin a product of mycorrhiza can be a good cementing agent for soil aggregation process.
• The speaker Gustavo Curaqueo explained that in this site under pasture, these properties have been increased up to about 6 yrs but there has been a decrease over time up to an assessment of the 20 yrs, which is just a consideration of the compaction reached in this system, and that they are recommending at least some minimum disturbance to aerate the system again and to reduce further compaction.
• Comments were raised on the fact that it is still expected that aggregation, mychorrizal populations levels reached here must be for sure much higher than a soil under intensive tillage. They just do not have a site to compare with.
• Another speaker, Claudivan Costa de Lima (pg 81), gave us a very nice overview of the use of several types of compost materials as soil amendments in Brazil, a way to increase soil organic matter, as we know how important SOM is to improve soil water holding capacity and other properties important for plant growth/productivity.
• It was very interesting to learn about the use of different sugarcane products, like the “bagasse” combined with sugarcane ash and chicken manure (Bagazzo de cana, cenizas de bagazo de cana, and estiercol de gallina) as well as this component mixed with inorganic fertilizers (urease, phosphate rocks, etc).
• De Lima emphasized there was higher soil C loss with the use of the compost mixed with inorganic fertilizers (rock powder= polvo de roca y fertilizantes solubles), but the lowest C loss and more changes in the SOM were found with compost having more organic materials.
• He also emphasized the importance of the management of the compost chemical composition to avoid rapid degradation and potential loss of labile compounds into the nearby ecosystem boundaries. 
• This talk emphasizes that we need to expand our understanding of the soil responses to so many options of organic materials we may have depending on the region.   

 

3- talks :

• We found very interesting a talk from Brazil by Bolonhezi, where it is suggested to use sugarcane for biodiesel future increasing demands as an alternative/replacement of the traditional burning practice, and how this practice “Green Harvesting of Sugarcane” ….because it can significantly reduce CO₂ emissions compared to burning, plus even more reductions in CO₂ emissions are reached under no-tillage compared to conventional tillage.

 

• Another talk from a region in Chile by Carolina Inostroza, where biosolids from a local industry, which involves no cost of transportation, may be an option for providing some organic matter back to soils that were explained to be severely eroded over 100 yrs of mismanagement. 

 

• I also wanted to add here my talk from another session which is a research on the soil microbial component, which changed in a pasture after 5 yrs only compared to our typical practice of continuous monoculture of cotton, and a rotation of wheat-rye-cotton-fallow periods took longer 7-8 years to differentiate from continuous cotton. Both the pasture and the rotation are seen as an “integrated livestock-cotton system”.  This is a system as an alternative management for monoculture and the intensive tillage applied due to social tradition in the region evaluated in the US. 
• We want to emphasize that these talks are examples on how sometimes the options are not easy, may seem to contradict what we consider more conservative practices (biofuels and biosolids, and the case of livestock production which can feed less people that cropping), but perhaps they are option that can be explored with caution, and of course long term evaluation are needed to address soil quality changes and functioning.
• There was another talk by a colleague that could not present in another session about a national program in Chile by CONAF in which they were trying to plant > 1 million ha with Pinus radiata and some other vegetation, and this revegetation after only 5 years successfully increased biomass, surface cover and other parameters. Questions or considerations significant soil conservation efforts is that it would be very good to address the changes in soil microbial properties
• We had a total of 8 posters related to soil biology (evaluation of greenhouse gas emissions , microbial activity and enzymology)
• Within the conclusion of sessions we just had today, there was a suggestion to create a session on “new or unique management practices/technology approaches” that are perhaps not practiced in other regions, for example the talk on “Green Sugarcane harvesting”. 
• Overall, it is a common consensus that the soil microbial component is very key to soil nutrient cycling and to accomplish soil detoxification. We want to add that the area of soil biology needs to be explored further, and we hope to get the attention of research presentations in the areas of soil microbial diversity and their link to soil functioning for future talks.

 

Soil chemistry and soil biology sessions were together, and I just wanted to give an overview of the fact that the group emphasized the integral link between these 2 soil properties (biological and chemical):

 

 

In terms of soil chemistry, this group emphasized the

 

• Soil salinity as a international problem: add sodicity (alkalinity). Add HCO₃ in water to increase soil pH in arid zones
• The microbiology aspects were discussed in relation to mycorrhizas as indicators of progress and improvements in soil functioning
• Impacts of soil chemical properties

 

SOM incorporation was emphasized as the key target to increase soil quality (chemical, physical and microbiological properties), and a consensus was that soil biology and chemistry are linked by the SOM.  Thus, composting processes and applications were emphasized as key practices to impact directly/first the soil biology and chemistry. The importance of incorporation of SOM to restore contaminated sites in the world, C sequestration and increase microbial activity and diversity were points discussed.

      

 

 

 

Physical soil degradation and physical soil constraints Commission. Conclusions.

Reginaldo Barboza da Silva and Marco Sandoval.

 

Dentro de los trabajos se pueden identificar que las temáticas tratadas se relacionaron con problemas tanto productivos como ambientales.

 

La tendencia observada en los trabajos presentados muestran una visión de la física de suelo más amplia que la tradicional,  cuya preocupación anterior se centraba más en  los problemas  de mecánicos, hidráulicos e índices físicos de los suelos.

 

Hoy pareciera  que hasta (la física de suelo) asume una integración de otros problemas como son  los aspectos ambientales en la producción silvoagropecuria sostenible,  que se da respuesta mediante la integración de otras disciplinas de manera  de  resolver  de mejor manera  los problemas actuales,  además, existe una clara tendencia a trabajar con indicadores que son evaluados en campo (datos expeditos) y a la búsqueda  de metodologías en los laboratorios más rápidas y de menor costo.

 

Las investigaciones también apuntan a dar luces y facilitar la toma de decisiones a nivel de políticas públicas, de manera de generar nuevas  o cambiar otras, y de esta forma focalizarlas a los problemas reales y hacer más eficientes el  siempre escaso apoyo económico proveniente de los gobiernos.

 

En la Figura siguiente se discute la distribución de la participación de las distintas comisiones con relación al total de trabajos presentados en el 16º Congreso de la Organización Internacional de Conservación de Suelo, ISCO 2010.

 

 

La participación del área de física correspondió a 14%, esto es considerado bajo, sin embargo, se debe entender que ésta es un área que habitualmente es relegada, en relación a los financiamientos existentes para la investigación.

 

 

Desertification and drylands Commision. Conclusions.

Ildefonso Pla Sentís and Mario Ahumada.

 

General conclusions

 

1. The papers presented were very diverse according with the poor precision in the definition of “desertification”, and represented experiences under very different conditions in  Australia, Asia, Latin América, USA and Africa. The papers varied from analysis of the causes, both climatic and human induced, of desertification, and from the effects of desertification on the biology and C content in the soil, to the test and recommendations of land use and management to prevent and even revert such processes. In all cases, desertification is considered as an advanced process of soil and soil cover degradation.
2. The different studies about desertification processes were generally based on the consequences or potential effects of the present or previewed climate changes, taking also into consideration the influence of human activities derived of the population growth and associated social and economical pressures.
3. Many of the reported causes of the desertification processes are derived of negative changes in the hydrological processes. As a consequence, the studies and practices looking for the prevention and reversion of the desertification processes include the control and improvement of such hydrological processes, specially the ones related with the infiltration, runoff and retention of rainwater in the soil, with the management of irrigation water and drainage, and with the extraction and use of ground water.
4. Generally the presented papers agreed in that there is a great relation among the processes of soil and land desertification and the decrease of organic matter content and of microbiological activities in the soil. Therefore, the land use and management practices promoting the conservation or recovery of such aspects must contribute to the prevention and reversion of the desertification processes.
5. There was agreed that frequently the processes of land desertification, at least at short and medium range, are more a consequence of land use and management changes, associated to specific situations of population, social and economic pressures, than to the previewed climate changes. Moreover, the desertification processes are not exclusive of arid and semiarid zones, because with some combinations of soils, topography and land use and management it is possible to reach desertification in areas with more humid climates.

 

Recommendations

 

The studies and research about desertification processes have to include mainly the hydrological changes caused both by the climate changes and by the land use and management, as well as the factors leading to such use and management. The recommended solutions for the prevention, control and reversion of such processes of desertification must take into consideration those aspects. In any case, we have to consider the site specific situations, because there are not solutions with universal or permanent application, which also have to be adjusted to the changing technological, social, economical and political situations.

 

 

 

 

Institutional and socio-economic issues Commision. Conclusions.

José  Luis Rubio and Samuel Francke.

 

Se ha contado con la presentación de trabajos de países como Chile, Brasil, México, Venezuela, República Checa y de FAO como institución.

 

Se presentan diversas experiencias de proyectos, programas y estudio:

• Recuperación y  rehabilitación en comunidades
• Conservación y restauración de suelos degradados para comunidades

 

Para garantizar la sostenibilidad se recomienda su inserción en las políticas públicas de conservación de suelos de los diversos países.

 

A partir de las experiencias, de países como  Chile y México, se desarrollan y aplican sistemas de incentivos para la recuperación de suelos degradados, se recomienda evaluar y monitorear el impacto de las prácticas, obras y la percepción por parte de las comunidades.

 

En la aplicación de programas de conservación de suelos y aguas, se recomienda considerar los principios de adaptación, adopción, replicación, continuidad y motivación de las comunidades.

 

Para una gestión integrada y sostenible de conservación de suelos se recomienda armonizar las componentes político-institucionales, técnico ambientales y de participación social.

 

En el establecimiento, definiciones de directrices y marcos legales en materia de conservación de suelos resulta fundamental garantizar la multifuncionalidad del recurso suelo en los aspectos ambientales, económicos y socioculturales. En los ambientales, son de vital  relevancia las  funciones de regulación climática y del papel del suelo en el secuestro de carbono.

 

De acuerdo a las experiencias presentadas se constata, como tendencia general, que los países se encuentran en una fase de transición desde un modelo de desarrollo no conservacionista del suelo hacia un modelo de desarrollo de conservación de suelos.

 

Se mantiene en diferentes países un círculo vicioso entre  la degradación del suelo y los recursos naturales y la degradación sociocultural.

 

Se  han presentado correlaciones directas y multifactoriales entre erosión y marginación social, en función del análisis global de deterioro ambiental.

 

Entre las prácticas no sostenibles que afectan a la conservación de suelos se encuentra:

 

 

• El uso de suelo sin considerar su aptitud
• Los incendios forestales
• La deforestación
• La quema de residuos orgánicos
• El arado a favor de la pendiente
• Cultivo inadecuado en laderas
• Los monocultivos reiterados
• La sobre utilización agrícola ganadera
• La expansión urbana sobre las zonas agrícolas.

 

 

Las consecuencias de la aplicación de un modelo no conservacionista de un suelo se expresan en:

• Proceso de degradación de suelos y desertificación
• Procesos de colmatación y sedimentación de cuencas hidrográficas
• Erosión social o pauperización rural
• Migración Campo-Ciudad.

 

Perspectivas de la Conservación de Suelos:

 

1. Modelo de desarrollo para la conservación y restauraciòn del suelo: El avance hacia un modelo de desarrollo para la conservación de suelo requiere de un cambio cultural “Verde” en los niveles políticos, institucionales, técnicos y comunidades, en post de un manejo y gestión integrada y sostenible del recurso suelo.

 

2. De acuerdo a las experiencias presentadas se recomienda considerar prácticas tales como:

• Labranza adecuada (labranza mínima, …)
• Agricultura orgánica
• Biofertilizantes
• Compostaje y manejo de residuos.
• Técnicas de bioingenieria, mecánicas o hidrotecnias de conservación de suelos y aguas.
• Técnicas de control de erosión
• Forestación y Reforestación
• Revegetación de especies Nativas
• Zonas de amortiguación  o Biofiltros.
• Sistemas agrosilvopastorales
• Consolidación de tierras (Land Consolidation),
• Entre otras.

 

3. De acuerdo a las presentaciones realizadas se recomienda a la microcuenca hidrográfica como unidad de planificación y gestión en base a un micro ordenamiento territorial, para la aplicación de técnicas y prácticas de conservación de suelos y aguas.

 

4. Se recomienda la aplicación de programas de capacitación (unidades de demostración y énfasis en acciones participativas) e incorporación de los programas de conservación de suelos en los sistemas educativos a nivel técnico, universitario, educación básica y secundaria que resalta la importancia y la multifuncionalidad del recurso suelo. Así como también programas de difusión y campañas de sensibilización.

 

 

 

SOME CONCLUSIONS

Jose Luis Rubio.

 President ESSC. Centro de Investigaciones sobre Desertificación-CIDE (CSIC, Universidad de Valencia, Generalitat Valenciana)

 

Main global problems

 

• Increase food production to avoid food security problems
• Global climate change
• Water scarcity and water quality
• Land use changes (urban expansion, soil consumption)
• Land degradation-desertification-migrations
• Environmental security
• Land contamination, residues and wastes
• Loss of biodiversity and landscape quality
• Alternative sources of energy: biofuels and H₂ cells

 

¡¡¡The answers are related to soil¡¡¡

 

Some questions-Challenges.

 

Expanding the concept of Soil Conservation.

 

• How incorporate the economic value of soil and soil services
• How to improve perception of soil as biosphere crucial system
• How to cope with heterogeneity,  methodologies and new technologies-approaches
• How to cope with multifunctionallity and other scientific and societal new demands
• How influence decision makers
• …..

 

The issue today.

 

• Soil as a crucial natural resource
• Land-soil scarcity
• New soil paradigms : Multifunctional medium
• Incorporating soil inputs to environmental global problems: Climate change, Combating land degradation-desertification, food security, water scarcity,…

 

• MORE OPPORTUNITIES THAN EVER BEFORE¡¡¡     Young researchers¡¡¡

 

Research aspects.

 

• Multifunctional approaches-Soil quality
• Integrated approaches for monitoring assessment
• Increased attention to biotic processes and biodiversity
• Carbon cycling and storage
• Soil-water relationships
• Sound soil productivity
• Incorporation new technologies and approaches
• INNOVATION¡¡¡

The societal and socio-economic problems.

 

• Environmental security-conflicts. Human and socioeconomic consequences
• In a economicistic society lets talk economic language: Incorporating economic activities: carbon trading, carbon storage, payment for ecosystem services, certification schemes, economic value to resist erosion,…
• How society benefits in economic terms
• Private Sector in Soil Conservation-Bioengineering.

 

The role of SOIL CONSERVATION

 

• Knowledge and research gaps
• Societal perception
• Protect the sustainability of soil resources trough innovation
• Fill de gap between biophysical processes and socioeconomic context
• Improve soil structure and fertility
• Improve soil ecological functions

 

Three main issues for soil conservation

 

• Increasing food production trough a more ecological agriculture
• Application to ecological regulating functions, biodiversity and landscape
• Reinforcing the soil regulation capacity of water resources.