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Soils are a non-renewable resource that we continue to lose at incredibly high rates. Conservative estimates arrive at the 24 billion tons of fertile soil lost each year. This is not restricted to arid environments, land and soil degradation is a global issue, as it affects 1.5 billion people. By 2050, nine billion people will need to be fed in face of climate change and water scarcity and to this end, fertile soils are essential.

Integrated land and water management practices improve agricultural production and enhance soil productivity and its resilience against desertification and other impacts of climate change and variability.
Radionuclide and stable isotopic techniques can be used to study soil erosion and land degradation problems. Nuclear technology can also help countries to assess and improve their soil and water management practices.

IAEA technical cooperation projects help Member States to improve crops. They also help to support soil conservation and optimize fertilizer usage.

The IAEA is working with numerous soil research organizations through the technical cooperation programme. Click here for a list of organizations in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Europe and Latin America.

Highlighted is a case study about the importance of soil science for informing sustainable land and water management practices in Tajikistan. In cooperation with the UN University (Environment and Human Security) and the WOCAT, two IAEA’s technical cooperation projects assessed the quantity and reasons for soil erosion, contributing  to the Sustainable Land Management in the Pamir Alai Mountains, the PALM project. Inappropriate agricultural practices were identified and sustainable land use plans and a soil map of Tajikistan developed.

How is the IAEA improving land use and soil conservation in Tajikistan. Read more		UNU-EHS project: Sustainable Land Management in the High Pamir and Pamir-Alai Mountains (PALM). Read more
PALM project update. Read more		UNU-EHS Policy Brief: Towards Sustainable Land Management in the Palmir-Alai Mountains. Read more

Other resources:
View TC's success stories in soil and water mangement
Read more about the Global Soil Partnership
World Soil Day 2012:  Saving Soil - Saving Livelihoods Article
World Soil Day 2012: Interview with Her Royal Highness Princess Bajrakitiyabha of Thailand

The animated film LET’S TALK ABOUT SOIL emphasizes human dependence on soils and describes how sustainable development is threatened by certain soil use trends; the film offers options to make the way we manage our soils more sustainable. The film is also available in German, Spanish, French and Arabic here

LET’S TALK ABOUT SOIL was produced by designer and animator Uli Henrik Streckenbach for the Global Soil Week and the Global Soil Partnership with the support of the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) – Global Soil Forum, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the Deutsche Welle.