China-led Asian countries and regions released the “Asian Soil Partnership Program Nanjing Communiqué” at the “Advancing the Science and Technology of Soil Information in Asia Conference” held in Nanjing, China February 8-11, 2012.
The countries involved are Japan, Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Mongolia, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Pakistan, Bhutan, Nepal and China.
According to the communiqué, the member countries would share and transfer soil knowledge and new technologies within and beyond boundaries and provide soil information related to the sustainable use of soil and land resources for each interested party. Besides, they will establish a standard and constantly updated Asian soil information system while keep supporting the global soil information system. They also agreed to train a new generation of experts in the field of soil science and land management.
To achieve the above objectives, the countries and regions agreed to establish the Asian Soil Partnership Program, with its secretariat located in the Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences (ISS).
In 2011, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) proposed the Global Soil Partnership Program, and the ISS was elected as the regional center in Asia. The Global Soil Partnership’s vision is for a sustainable and productive use of the soil resources of the world. Its mission is to support and facilitate joint efforts towards sustainable management of soil resources for food security and climate change adaptation and mitigation.
The Conference also launched the “GlobalSoilMap.net East Asia Node.” In February of 2009, the ISS participated in the initiation of the "GlobalSoilMap.net” and became the East Asian regional center of the program, leading and coordinating the related research work in East Asia and constituting the global network together with centers in North America, South America, Europe, Africa and Oceania. GlobalSoilMap.net is a global consortium formed to make a new digital soil map of the world using state-of-the-art and emerging technologies.
