Applying the Meta Soil Model: The Complexities of Soil and Water Security in a Permanent Protection Area in Brazil

Abstract

Soil security denotes freedom from risks of losing a specific or a group of soil functions. This case study in the permanent protection area of Sana river (PPA-Sana), Brazil, addresses the relationship between soil security and water security. It explores the soil function “the provision of clean water and its storage, as well as filtering the contamination of water ways.” The study also presents a formal way to put soil security into practice applying the meta soil model. Meta soil modeling is built on integral theory that facilitates to understand the complexity of soil, water, and other securities. The soil and water securities in the PPA-Sana are interconnected and at risk. Specifically, one of the main problems is the discharge of soil sediments in the rivers as a consequence of soil erosion. Soil erosion and compaction constrain soil and water security, and these were monitored and mapped in order to provide support for policy interventions. However, our findings suggest that producing better soil maps and more monitoring are not enough to improve soil and water security. On the contrary, awareness building, creating trust among stakeholders, and better integration among quadrants of the integral model would lead to an enhancement of soil and water security. In essence, cognizance (the sixth dimension of soil and other securities) is profoundly important to allow integration of human and biophysical system dimensions.