Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
International scale
their likely impacts on SOC. Some pro-
grammes already exist at the local, national
and international level to provide this infor-
mation, but substantial gaps exist. In a similar
way, tools are needed to estimate the impacts
of land management practices on SOC
over a range of spatial and temporal scales.
In this volume, the current status of pro-
grammes is discussed in Chapters
1
and
16,
among others, and SOC models and how they
are in use today is discussed in Chapter
17.
Below, we consider the gaps in current pro-
grammes and tools at the local, national and
international level.
At this scale, costs and benefits from cli-
mate-regulation services are discussed as
examples of local actions that will make a
contribution to a global problem. Given the
low prices for CO
2
on the voluntary trade
markets in Chicago (US$5 Mg
-
1
C), the se-
questration of 0.18-0.4 Mg C ha
−
1
that is
most likely to be achieved will yield only
US$0.9-
2
ha
-
1
.
Smith (2004) has calculated
the costs of monitoring and verification,
showing that these costs do not outweigh the
benefits at these low CO
2
prices. A positive
experience of trading SOC on the international
markets comes from the first agricultural
SOC project in Kenya, where smallholders
use the Sustainable Agriculture Land Man-
agement (SALM) methodology from the
Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) to certify C
credits - which are currently purchased
through the World Bank Biocarbon Fund.
Smallholders have adopted mixed cropping
systems, based on residue management, com-
posting and agroforestry. The RothC model
was parameterized in several farming sys-
tems and used to define the best manage-
ment practices to be adopted. In another
case study, the standard elaborated by Plan
Vivo is used to support smallholders in
applying sustainable management practices
(Reducing Emissions from Deforestation
and Forest Degradation (REDD) and agro-
forestry) and to generate payments for the
ecosystem services provided (C credits).
Additional C services with respect to a base-
line are quantified by an independent meth-
odology. The project coordinator enters into
payments of ecosystem services in agreement
with multiple participants. Staged payments
are based on performances (
http:// www.
Local
The World Overview of Conservation Ap-
proaches and Technologies (WOCAT) pro-
vides a global database for the storage,
searching and exchange of land manage-
ment practices for soil and water conserva-
tion and SLM (WOCAT, 2013). Although it
is a resource with global coverage, informa-
tion is aimed at the local scale, with users
able to search for land management prac-
tices relevant to their local situation. Land
Degradation Assessment in Drylands (LADA)-
WOCAT mapping of land-use systems, land
degradation and SLM at local, subnational
and national scales provides information on
land management practices used by more
than
20
countries, and further decision sup-
port tools are to be developed (
http://www.
wocat.net
). Many of the practices presented
include data on soil loss prevention. How-
ever, currently, no inclusion is made of data
on, or estimations of, how each land man-
agement practice will impact SOC in given
soil and climate conditions. Inclusion of
such information would allow local land
managers to consider the potential impacts
on SOC before implementing specific prac-
tices. Currently, there are plans to apply the
project-scale tools from the Carbon Benefits
Project (CBP) (Milne
et al
., 2010) to WOCAT
practices to provide such estimations.
The FAO's MICCA (Mitigation of Cli-
mate Change in Agriculture) programme in-
cludes activities and resources relevant
to SOC at the local level. MICCA has pilot
projects which implement and quantify
Policy support
Tools and programmes
In order to implement strategies to enhance
or maintain SOC stocks, information is
needed on land management practices, where
and how they should be implemented and
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