Abstract
The continual loss and impairment of soil ecosystem services (SES) across the globe calls for a fundamental reconsideration of soil governance mechanisms. This critical synthesis charts the history and evolution of national and international soil law and seeks to unravel certain challenges that have contributed to this failure in governance. It describes and categorizes law and policy responses to different soil threats, and identifies a worrying widespread absence of legislation for oversight and protection of agricultural soils from urbanization, as well as a lack of clear legal mechanisms to determine national priorities for soil protection. A reduction in the world's prime farmland threatens SES, including food security, carbon storage and biodiversity. Falling between the stalls of agricultural and environmental law, the fate of farmland is often left to planners who do not see themselves as responsible for soils. Consequently, legal instruments with the greatest power to affect soil, sometimes irreversibly, are often framed and worded with little or no reference to the soil. Nevertheless, emerging conceptual frameworks might offer positive outcomes. The authors advocate robust holistic policies of soil governance and land use planning that place SES and natural capital at the heart of decision making.
Highlights
Soil is a vital multifunctional resource that could be regarded as the metaphorical as well as the literal foundation of human civilization
FAOLEX documents legal instruments in force in nearly 200 countries. This database is organized by country, into the following groups, of which those marked with an asterisk were 3 reviewed by the lead author: PoliciesÃ; Legislation: Agricultural and rural developmentÃ, Climate change, Cultivated plants, Disaster risk management, EnvironmentÃ, Fisheries, Food and nutrition, ForestryÃ, Land and soilÃ, Livestock, Sea, Water, Wild species and ecosystemsÃ; International AgreementsÃ
In some parts of the world food security was no longer regarded as a serious threat, whereas agriculture itself was increasingly perceived as the primary threat to the environment, and a mixed blessing
Summary
Soil is a vital multifunctional resource that could be regarded as the metaphorical as well as the literal foundation of human civilization. In certain circumstances soil, like any other natural resource, can deliver negative impacts, such as emitting GHGs, harbouring pests and diseases, or contributing to the accumulation of sediment, dust storms and landslides These events are reminders that good governance of soil is about minimizing ecosystem ‘disservices’ as well as safeguarding essential ecosystem services. Soil is an integral component within this system, both as an enabler and a victim of exponential human expansion This interdisciplinary critical synthesis reviews the role of soil governance in helping to achieve the objectives of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), to mitigate and adapt to climate change and contribute to a more secure future for humanity. The review concludes by looking to emerging approaches such as the soil security conceptual framework, proposed as a way of translating critical soil knowledge into sustainable development policy, and to holistic land evaluation methodologies that incorporate SES into land use planning
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