October 22, 2024, Cali, Colombia — At the CBD COP16, the side event “Forging Integrated Ecosystem-based Solutions: Sustainable Soil Management in Black Soil Regions for Rio Convention Synergies” was co-hosted by China, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), co-organized by UNEP-IEMP and MEE-TCARE.
For details of the side event, please refer to the reprint 《中国、联合国环境规划署、联合国粮农组织在《生物多样性公约》第十六次缔约方大会上呼吁黑土地的可持续管理》, and the English translation is below.
Cali, Colombia, October 22, 2024 – During the 16th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP16), China, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) co-hosted a side event on the sustainable management of black soil. The meeting emphasized the importance of black soil in ensuring food security, maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem health, enhancing climate resilience, and supporting livelihoods. It called on all parties to work together to strengthen the sustainable management of black soil to promote the coordinated implementation of the "Rio Conventions".
In her opening remarks, Ms. Doreen Robinson, Director of Biodiversity and Land Branch at the United Nations Environment Programme, pointed out that soil is the important link connecting the "Rio Conventions". She emphasized that investing in black soil means investing in multiple areas simultaneously, including achieving multiple targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. Ms. Robinson further noted that providing systemic solutions is crucial, which requires adopting an ecosystem-based integrated approach to coordinate the relationship between human activities and natural processes. In addition, she acknowledged the achievements of the UNEP International Ecosystem Management Partnership (UNEP-IEMP) in conducting case studies on integrated solutions and its contributions to promoting South-South cooperation.
In China, black soil is known as the "giant panda of cultivated land" and its protection and utilization have received high attention. H.E. Mr. Huang Runqiu, Minister of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) China, introduced China's achievements in protecting black soil, including top-level design, legal safeguards, specific measures, and publicity and communication, and emphasized the importance of systematic thinking, technological innovation, and international cooperation. He called on all parties to "further deepen consensus, strengthen actions, and jointly protect the 'giant panda of cultivated land'.
Mr. Li Lifeng, Director of the Land and Water Division of FAO, warned in his opening remarks that black soil is very susceptible to human impact and can lose biodiversity, so measures need to be taken to protect and utilize it rationally. He highly commended the efforts made by the Chinese government in this regard. At the same time, Dr. Tong Yuxin, coordinator of the FAO International Network for Soil Biodiversity (INBS), shared the global status of black soil and FAO's promotion of relevant international cooperation, pointing out that the sustainable management of black soil is an urgent need to achieve global food security and mitigate climate change.
In recent years, China has made positive progress in exploring models of black soil protection and utilization suitable for its national conditions. The report "Protecting the 'Giant Panda of Cultivated Land' - Typical Cases of Black Soil Ecological Environment Protection in China" released by Technical Centre for Soil, Agriculture and Rural Ecology and Environment, MEE (MEE-TCARE) details several successful cases. In addition, representatives from government agencies, international organizations, academia, and civil society organizations had in-depth discussions on how to transform theory into practice, aiming to find more effective solutions and promote the establishment of broader global partnerships.
This side event was jointly organized by the Chinese Ministry of Ecology and Environment of China, UNEP, and FAO, and co-organized by UNEP-IEMP and MEE-TCARE, with the support of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, INBS, the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research and the Nanjing Institute of Soil Science of Chinese Academy of Sciences, China Agricultural University, the Rural Energy and Environment Agency of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China, and local partners. Professor Zhang Linxiu, Director of UNEP-IEMP, moderated over the entire side event. Approximately 60 guests attended the event.
