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State of knowledge of soil biodiversity - Status, challenges and potentialities

Report 2020










Last updated 10/03/2021


FAO, ITPS, GSBI, SCBD, and EC. 2020. State of knowledge of soil biodiversity - Status, challenges and potentialities, Report 2020. Rome, FAO.




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    Book (stand-alone)
    State of knowledge of soil biodiversity – Status, challenges and potentialities. Summary for policy makers 2020
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    There is increasing attention on the importance of biodiversity for food security and nutrition, especially above-ground biodiversity such as plants and animals. However, less attention is being paid to the biodiversity beneath our feet, soil biodiversity, which drives many processes that produce food or purify soil and water. This summary for policy makers presents the key findings of the main report and is the result of an inclusive process involving more than 300 scientists from around the world under the auspices of the FAO’s Global Soil Partnership and its Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils, the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Global Soil Biodiversity Initiative and the European Commission. The summary for policy makers presents concisely the state of knowledge on soil biodiversity, the threats to it and the solutions that soil biodiversity can provide to problems in different fields. This report is a valuable contribution to raising awareness of the importance of soil biodiversity and highlighting its role in finding solutions to today's global threats.
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    Keep soil alive, protect soil biodiversity
    Global symposium on soil biodiversity, 19–22 April 2021 – Outcome document
    2021
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    The Global Symposium on Soil Biodiversity outcome document highlights scientific evidence on the status of soil biodiversity, its impacts, and an agenda for action in the framework of achieving the SDGs. The recommendations presented in this document aim to support the development of policies and actions to encourage the full use of soil biodiversity in the various land-use sectors. The Global Symposium on Soil Biodiversity was held virtually on the FAO zoom platform from 19-22 April 2021. It was attended by over 5 000 participants representing more than 160 countries, including representatives of FAO members, organizing institutions, academia, research institutions, the private sector, civil society, and farmers, as well as land users working on soil biodiversity and related fields. This document is also based on the Report of the State of Knowledge of Soil Biodiversity: Status, Challenges and Potentialities, and is complemented by a book of proceedings, which presents extended abstracts of the various parallel sessions presented during the symposium.
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    Book (series)
    Valuing forest ecosystem services: a training manual for planners and project developers 2019
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    The degradation of ecosystems, including forests, and the associated loss of biodiversity, particularly due to human-induced threats and climate change, has gained increased attention from scientists and policymakers. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment presented a new conceptual framework that puts ecosystem services at the centre and links human well-being to the impacts on ecosystems of changes in natural resources. The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity initiative drew further attention to the economic benefits of conserving ecosystems and biodiversity, supporting the idea that economic instruments – if appropriately applied, developed and interpreted – can inform policy- and decision-making processes. Only a few ecosystem services, however, have explicit market value and are traded in open markets: many – especially those categorized as having “passive-use” value – remain invisible and are rarely accounted for in traditional economic systems. The failure to appropriately consider the full economic value of ecosystem services in decision making enables the continued degradation and loss of ecosystems and biodiversity. Most ecosystem services are considered public goods and tend to be overexploited by society. Many methods have been applied to the economic valuation of ecosystem services. The use of these methods, as well as the interpretation of their results, requires familiarity with the ecological, political, normative and socio-economic context and the science of economics. Recognizing, demonstrating and capturing the value of ecosystem services can play an important role in setting policy directions for ecosystem management and conservation and thus in increasing the provision of ecosystem services and their contributions to human well-being. The aim of this manual is to enhance understanding of ecosystem services and their valuation. The specific target group comprises governmental officers in planning units and field-level officers and practitioners in key government departments in Bangladesh responsible for project development, including the Ministry of Environment and Forests and its agencies. Most of the examples and case studies presented herein, therefore, are tailored to the Bangladesh context, but the general concepts, approaches and methods can be applied to a broad spectrum of situations. This manual focuses on valuing forest-related ecosystem services, including those provided by trees outside forests. It is expected to improve valuation efforts and help ensure the better use of such values in policymaking and decision making. Among other things, the manual explores the basics of financial mathematics (e.g. the time value of money; discounting; cost–benefit analysis; and profitability and risk indicators); the main methods of economic valuation; examples of the valuation of selected ecosystem services; and inputs for considering values in decision making.

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