Southwest Pacific Soil Partnership

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)

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

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

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

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

Very poor

Poor Fa ir GoodVery 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 ConfidenceThreat to soil function

State of World’s Soil Resources Report assessment for the Southwest Pacific: strong engagement and excellent contributions

Highlights (2)