[SDI-Africa] FW: [CGIAR-CSI] Fwd: Harmonized World Soil Database...

[Craig von Hagen]

-----Original Message-----
From: cgiar-gis-l-bounces at grida.no [mailto:cgiar-gis-l-bounces at grida.no] On
Behalf Of Zomer, Robert
Sent: 19 August 2008 15:39
To: CGIAR-CSI-L
Subject: [CGIAR-CSI] Fwd: Harmonized World Soil Database...

CGIAR CSI e-mail list
FYI.....  good news, enjoy...  Robert

> Have a look at: http://www.fao.org/nr/water/news/soil-db.html and  
> the lower right corner for access to manual and database...

Land & Water NEWS: New database for soil information



FAO, IIASA and partners release a new Harmonized World Soil DB

Soil information, from global to local scale, has often been the one  
missing biophysical information layer, which absence added to the  
uncertainties of predicting potentials and constraints for food and  
fibre production. The lack of reliable and harmonized soil data has  
hampered considerably land degradation assessments, environmental  
impact studies and adapted sustainable land management interventions.

Recognizing the urgent need for improved soil information worldwide  
particularly in the context of the Climate Change Convention and the  
Kyoto Protocol for soil carbon measurements and the immediate  
requirement for the FAO/IIASA Global Agro-ecological Assessment study  
(GAEZ 2008), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United  
Nations (FAO) and the International Institute for Applied Systems  
Analysis (IIASA) took the initiative of combining the recently  
collected vast volumes of regional and national updates of soil  
information with the information already contained within the  
1:5,000,000 scale FAO-UNESCO Digital Soil Map of the World, into a new  
comprehensive Harmonized World Soil Database (HWSD). This state-of-the- 
art database was achieved in partnership with:

ISRIC - World Soil Information together with FAO, responsible for the  
development of regional soil and terrain databases and the WISE soil  
profile database;

the European Soil Bureau Network, which had recently completed a major  
update of soil information for Europe and northern Eurasia, and

the Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences which  
provided the recent 1:1,000,000 scale Soil Map of China.
The compilation of the HWSD was implemented at the International  
Institute for Applied Systems Analysis and verification of the new  
harmonized database was undertaken by all partners.

The completion of this comprehensive harmonized soil information will  
improve estimation of current and future land potential productivity,  
help identify land and water limitations, and enhance assessing risks  
of land degradation, particularly soil erosion. The HWSD contributes  
sound scientific knowledge for planning sustainable expansion of  
agricultural production and for guiding policies to address emerging  
land competition issues concerning food, energy and biodiversity. This  
is of critical importance for rational natural resource management and  
making progress towards achieving food security and sustainable  
agricultural development, especially with regard to the threats of  
global climate change and the need for adaptation and mitigation.

This digitized and online accessible soil information system will  
allow policy makers, planners and experts to overcome some of the  
shortfalls of data availability to address today's pressing challenges  
of food production and food security and plan for new challenges of  
climate change, accelerated natural resources degradation, and land  
competition concerning food, energy and biodiversity The HWSD database  
is available from FAO on DVD or can be downloaded from the FAO/IIASA  
website

Begin forwarded message:

> From: "Nachtergaele, Freddy (NRLA)" <Freddy.Nachtergaele at fao.org>
> Date: August 19, 2008 5:44:34 PM GMT+05:45
>
> Subject: Harmonized World Soil Database...
>
> Sorry for cross - posting
> Have a look at: http://www.fao.org/nr/water/news/soil-db.html and  
> the lower right corner for access to manual and database...
>
> All the best
> Freddy
>

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