This three-week e-consultation on Combating Soil Salinization in Eurasia is initiated by the Eurasian Center for Food Security (ECFS) in collaboration with the World Bank. It will run from May 12 to May 30, 2014.
The ECFS was established by the Government of the Russian Federation at Moscow State University as a follow up to the commitment made by G8 leaders, known as the L’Aquila Food Security Initiative, to implement measures to improve world food security. The objective of this e-consultation is to generate a discussion on how best to promote sustainable management of soils subject to salinization in the Eurasian region (Russia, Central Asia and the Caucasus). The discussion also aims to identify research gaps and strategies to increase awareness of the issue of soil salinization and attract investments for soil reclamation and improvement. The outcome of this discussion will inform the current and future work program of the ECFS, and will also contribute to the activities of the Eurasian Soil Partnership. The findings of the consultation will be published as an ECFS paper.
For a brief overview of the EASP, please consult the draft Plan of Action for Eurasian Subregional Partnership that could be found on the e-consultation page.
In order to stimulate and enrich this discussion the following guiding topics have been identified:
- Topic 1: How should soil management be improved to reduce soil salinization? What approaches and methods should be recommended for their efficiency, cost, and technical simplicity?
- Topic 2: What is the best way to increase public awareness and knowledge on issues of soil salinization and improved soil management? What is needed to improve the knowledge and skills of agricultural extension workers to better manage soil health? What is needed in order to attract investments for soil reclamation and improvement?
- Topic 3: What are the gaps in scientific knowledge that need to be closed in order to improve the management of potentially saline lands?
- Topic 4: How should soil salinity be monitored by remote sensing and field methods? Is there a need for creating a dynamic database on soil salinity?
- Topic 5: Do we need harmonized methods for quantifying soil salinity (concentration, electric conductivity, grades of salinity etc. in different systems)? Regional vs. global harmonization of data: what should be done with legacy data on saline soils?
Participants can also submit feedback on other topics related to soil salinity not covered by the above-mentioned topics.
In order to join the discussion, participants should register at https://collaboration.worldbank.org.
Questions can be directed at ecfs_econsultation@worldbank.org.
The user guide is available here.