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Highlights and images for 30 November 2016
African Soil Seminar - Soil Restoration for Achieving the 2063 and 2030 Agendas in Africa: Linking Global Ambitions to Local Needs
On the third and final day of the first African Soil Seminar, a high-level plenary session convened to address the topic, ‘Financing Soil and Landscape Restoration: Implementing the Addis Ababa Action Agenda.’ Building on the thematic discussions on financing land restoration on Tuesday, the session, which was facilitated by the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) Deputy Director-General Ravi Prabhu, discussed how to leverage the catalytic role of public resources to encourage increased investments in soil rehabilitation and benefit food-insecure farmers.
During a brief closing session, representatives of the five Co-Hosts – the governments of Kenya, Ethiopia, Benin and Burkina Faso as well as the NEPAD Agency – presented a joint statement signaling their commitment to continue to promote land restoration efforts in their countries and the region as a whole. The Seminar’s Co-Chairs, Wanjira Mathai and Alexander Müller, then presented a summary of their ‘Chairs’ Conclusions,’ highlighting key issues discussed at the Seminar.
An informal session of knowledge exchange at the “Marketplace of SLM Methods,” also took place, showcasing innovative technologies and approaches to soil and land restoration.
The Seminar concluded with an afternoon of “walking debates” around various Nairobi locations, facilitated by local community mobilizers, scholars and civil society organizations. A new addition to the Global Soil Week, the walks aim to encourage reflection on emerging sustainability themes, such as how to make food accessible and nutritional, and how to encourage healthier behaviors that integrate an understanding of climate change.
IISD Reporting Services, through its ENB+ Meeting Coverage, has provided a summary of the African Soil Seminar on the 3rd of December 2016, which is available in HTML and PDF.
Photos by IISD/ENB | Herman Njoroge Chege
For photo reprint permissions, please follow instructions at our Attribution Regulations for Meeting Photo Usage Page.
Plenary on Financing Soil and Landscape Restoration: Implementing the Addis Ababa Action Agenda
From L-R: Mamadou Diakhite, NEPAD; Christian Witt, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; Sithembile Ndema Mwamakamba, FANRPAN; Bernard Crabbé, European Commission; Martin Tsounkeu, Africa Development Interchange Network (ADIN); and Pushpam Kumar, United Nations Environment (UNEP)
Ravi Prabhu, Deputy Director-General, World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF)
Carolin Sperk, Global Soil Forum, Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies, Potsdam, Germany (IASS)
Pushpam Kumar, UNEP
Martin Tsounkeu, ADIN
Christian Witt, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Mamadou Diakhite, NEPAD
Bernard Crabbé, European Commission
Sithembile Ndema Mwamakamba, FANRPAN
High-level Closing Statements: Towards 2030 and Beyond: Moving on Jointly
African Soil Seminar Co-Chair, Alexander Müller, Töpfer, Müller, Gaßner – ThinkTank for Sustainability (TMG) , makes closing remarks, watched by Co-Chair Wanjira Mathai, Wangari Maathai Institute for Peace and Environmental Studies, Kenya
Jasper Nkanya, Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, Kenya
Daouda Maiga, Ministry of Agriculture, Water Resources and Fisheries, Burkina Faso
Françoise Assogba Komlan, Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, Benin, delivers the Co-Hosts' Statement
Representatives of the Host Governments pose for a photo with the Seminar Co-Chairs
SLM Technologies Marketplace
Paul Kleene, GRAF, shares some information with Jules Marie Somé, GIZ
Exhibitor presenting poster on SLM Technologies
Presenter during the SLM Technologies Marketplace
SLM Technologies Marketplace participants share their contact details to receive additional information
Participants interacting with a Marketplace presenter on SLM Technologies
Global Soil Biodiversity Atlas on display at the SLM Technologies Marketplace
ENB Team Members From L-R: Wangu Mwangi ; Jennifer Covert; Wanja Nyingi; and Herman Njoroge Chege
3rd Meeting of the Sustainable Ocean Initiative (SOI) Global Dialogue with Regional Seas Organizations and Regional Fishery Bodies
Breakout sessions challenged attendees to consider where regional coordination and cooperation intersects with effective area-based conservation measures, marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction, and addressing marine litter.
Highlights and images for 3 May 2018
Global Symposium on Soil Pollution (GSOP18)
On Thursday, participants in the Global Symposium on Soil Pollution (GSOP18) met in four parallel sessions throughout the day to address the Symposium themes: soil pollution on agricultural fields and other land uses; the impact of soil pollution on food production and safety, the environment and overall human well-being; remediation of polluted sites; and developing policies and setting thresholds for addressing soil pollution and the global status of soil pollution.
During the morning, participants addressed four sub-themes in parallel sessions: drivers of soil pollution in agricultural fields; soil pollution and food safety; monitoring soil pollution; and developing policies and setting thresholds for addressing soil pollution.
In the afternoon, they deliberated on the sub-themes of: drivers of soil pollution in non-agricultural soils; risk assessment of soil pollution on the environment and human health; state of the art of remediation techniques of polluted sites; and case studies at global, national, and regional scales.
Four side-events took place during the day. At midday, in a side-event co-organized by FAO and UN Environment, participants discussed the implementation of the UN Environment Assembly Resolution on addressing soil pollution in an effort to move the global soil pollution agenda forward. A parallel side event organized by FAO focused on water pollution from agriculture. In the afternoon, participants discussed policies, indicators, and assessments for tackling soil pollution in Europe in a side-event co-organized by FAO, the European Commission, and the European Environment Agency. Additionally, a side-event focusing on bioavailability of contaminants in soil, co-organized by FAO and the Interstate Technology and Regulatory Council, trained participants on: determining when a bioavailability assessment may be appropriate; selecting appropriate methods to evaluate soil bioavailability; and using tools to develop soil bioavailability estimates.
Highlights of the day also included:
Mapping of the distribution of heavy metals in different parts of the world
Presentation of case studies on contaminated land management at national level
Consideration of sustainable remediation techniques going beyond temporal and spatial boundaries, and using sustainability assessment frameworks
Discussions on pathways of emerging pollutants, including microplastics, from soil to crops, and implications for human health
Production of short videos with key participants, highlighting the magnitude of soil pollution and why it should be of global concern
IISD Reporting Services, through its ENB+ Meeting Coverage, has provided daily digital web updates and a summary report from GSOP18. The summary report is now available in HTML and PDF.
Rosalina Gonzalez, Universidad de La Salle, Colombia ©FAO
Olegario Muñiz Ugarte, Ministerio de la Agricultura, Cuba ©FAO
Yueling Qi, Wageningen University and Research, The Netherlands ©FAO
Ana Lima, University of Waterloo, Canada ©FAO
Jussi Reinikainen, Finnish Environmental Institute, Finland ©FAO
Koen Oorts, ARCHE Consulting, Belgium ©FAO
Tamara Kukharchyk, Institute for Nature Management, Belarus ©FAO
Ismail Ithnin, Department of Environment, Malaysia ©FAO
Abdelaziz Belal Belal, National Authority for Remote Sensing and Space Sciences, Egypt ©FAO
Phillip Owens, Department of Agriculture, US ©FAO
Tatiana Stefanovska, National University of Life and Environmental Sciences, Ukraine ©FAO
Anna Paltseva, Brooklyn College of the City University of New York, US ©FAO
Petr Sharov, Blacksmith Institute/Pure Earth, Azerbaijan ©FAO
Andrea Otteson, Food and Drug Administration, US ©FAO
Warshi Dandeniya, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka ©FAO
Frank Swartjes, RVM National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, The Netherlands ©FAO
Valéria Cristina Palmeira Zago, Centro Federal de Educação Tecnológica de Minas Gerais, Brazil ©FAO
Shadananan Nair, Centre for Earth Research and Environment Management, India ©FAO
Participants in discussion