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