IASS Releases Working Paper
How can we avoid the Risk of Unsustainable Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)? IASS Releases Working Paper
Guest Blog by George Monbiot: Ploughing On Regardless
Almost all other issues are superficial by comparison to soil loss. So why don’t we talk about it?
By George Monbiot, published in the Guardian 25 March 2015
European Soil Protection Initiative: Jes Weigelt Appointed Chair of the European Soil Partnership
Soils are the basis for our food, a habitat for countless organisms and a prerequisite for biodiversity. As a carbon sink, they also play an important role in the global climate. These vital global functions necessitate soil protection that transcends…
Guest Blog by Zimbabweland: Policy options for African soils: learning lessons for future action
Everyone is agreed that one of the central components of achieving an ‘African Green Revolution’ is to tackle the widespread soil fertility constraints in African agriculture. To this end, AGRA – the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa –…
Guest Blog by Zimbabweland: Why an integrated approach to soil management is essential
Debates on soils and their management have too often been unnecessarily polarised between promoters of ‘organic’, ‘sustainable’ or ‘agroecological’ agriculture and those who argue that only large supplies of mineral fertiliser are the answer. These are often pitched in ideological…
Guest Blog by CIAT: Land management matters: Malawian communities create maps to find answers
In Malawi, worry creases farmers’ faces as they explain that their maize crop may fail this year. Planting was done on time, but in January intense rainfall and flooding swept away much of the fields, soil and seeds alike. Our…
Are the Sustainable Development Goals Sustainable?
2015 is going to be a pivotal year for sustainable development: a global climate agreement is due to be negotiated in Paris in December; under Germany’s presidency, the G7 Summit in June will address sustainable economic growth; and the 193…
Combating Poverty through Better Use of Natural Resources: IASS, IFAD and Partners Publish New Study
Natural resources are coming under increasing pressure in the face of climate change and growing global demand for raw materials.
IASS and Partners Propose Shortlist of Global Land and Soil Indicators to Support SDGs
The protection of land and soils will contribute to the achievement of several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It is therefore necessary to develop an appropriate monitoring and accountability framework to track the state of these resources. Finding appropriate indicators is…
Some Cautionary Tales for the International Year of Soils
First in series of guest Blogs from Ian Scoones You may not know, but 2015 is the International Year of Soils. Soils are of course vitally important for agriculture and livelihoods, but they often go unsung and are routinely uncared…