http://www.fao.org/globalsoilpartnership This presentation was made during the third GSP Planery Assembly that took place in Rome; FAO HQ from 22-24 June 2015. The presentation presents the launch of the southwest pacific soil partnership. ©FAO: http://www.fao.org

1. Southwest Pacific Soil Partnership

2. Membership and launch
• The region includes Australia,
New Zealand, PNG, the 22 island
nations of the Pacific and
Antarctica
• The Partnership launch was held
on Monday 13 October 2014 in
Suva, Fiji
• Hosted by the Secretariat of the
Pacific Community and
supported by FAO, SPC, CSIRO
(Australia) and Landcare
Research (New Zealand)

3. Communiqué signed by soil community from
12 Pacific countries and universities, research
institutes, SPC and FAO

4. Priorities for the partnership
1. Sharing and developing appropriate soil management
solutions noting the particular challenges for atoll islands
2. Increasing soil literacy
3. Building local and regional capacity, grounded in our
cultural context
4. Designing efficient and effective methods for soil analysis
that are locally appropriate and robust
5. Enhancing coverage of soil information, collating legacy
data and developing more usable forms
6. Ensuring soil information security to protect regional data
assets against loss
7. Sharing capacity including laboratories, portals and
extension resources

5. Initial activities as a partnership
We have used the new partnership to:
• Present a briefing to the New Zealand Government on
the Global Soil Partnership, progress made in the
GlobalSoilMap project and Pillar 4 (organized by
Landcare Research and Massey University)
• Undertake the expert consultation process for the State
of the World’s Soil Resources Report (organized by ITPS
members Neil McKenzie, CSIRO, and Marta Camps,
Massey University)
• Lots of national activities particularly in relation to the
International Year of Soils

6. Highlights (1)
Launch of the
Soil and
Landscape Grid
of Australia – a
delivery for Pillar
4 at the start of
IYS
Related activities
and support
across the region
including the
Pacific Soil Portal

7. Very
poor
Poor Fair Good
Very
good
In
condition
In trend
Soil
acidification ↙ ◒ ●
Soil erosion
↗ ◒ ◒
Organic carbon
change ~ ● ◒
Nutrient
imbalance ↙ ● ◒
Compaction
− ◒ ●
Soil sealing and
capping ↙ ◒ ●
Contamination
↗ ● ●
Salinization
and
sodification
−
● ◒
Loss of soil
biodiversity ~ ○ ○
Waterlogging
− ◒ ◒
Condition and Trend Confidence
Threat to soil
function
State of World’s Soil
Resources Report
assessment for the
Southwest Pacific: strong
engagement and
excellent contributions
Highlights (2)