Open letter: A global call to strengthen national soil biodiversity action through coordination and harmonization.

MARÍN, C.; BARRETO, C.; SINGH, B. K.; RUITER, P. C. de; BROWN, G. G.; BATTIGELLI, J.; BAGNARA, G. L.; GONZÁLEZ, R.; GUERRA, C.; SUN, X.; DIRILGEN, T.; ULZEN, J.; MALORGIO, G.; MONTANARELLA, L.; COLEINE, C.; VILONEN, L.; PARNELL, J. J.; EDWARDS, J.; ALFARES, H.; KAFLE, G.; GADALLAH, N. A. H.; KARURI, H.; ROY, A.; YEBOAH, E.; BHADURY, P.; KOTHAMASI, D.; AGARWALA, N.; DEBNATH, S.; SURASINGHE, T.; ASHWOOD, F.; KUMAR, T.; KUMAR, P.; SIDDIQUI, S.; GICHEHA, J.; HEDĚNEC, P.; SABBAHI, R.; WUBS, J.; GE, Z.; ZAITSEV, A.; GALLI, L.; MUNDRA, S.; RAMALINGAM, P. V.; BUCKERIDGE, K.; CHAKRAVORTY, P. P.; JUAN‐OVEJERO, R.; PFINGSTL, T.; EZIUZOR, S.; ELLIOTT, D.; LAI, D. Y. F.; THIELE‐BRUHN, S.; PEGUERO, G.; BHATTACHARYYA, N.; BONNETT, S.; OSEMWEGIE, I.; KUTUZOVIĆ, D. H.; IKOYI, I.; ABDELRAHMAN, H.; TERZA, A. L.; BENDADA, M.; GONGALSKY, K.; MORENO, M. L.; BLACKBURN, D.; OLIVEIRA FILHO, L. C. I.; TAITI, S.; HERNANDEZ, M. F. C.; SOUZA, L. F. de; KLARENBERG, I.; NOVO, M.; CHAUVAT, M.; RIBEIRO‐BARROS, A.; DUNFIELD, K. E.; FLORES, G. S. L.; RAI, S.; SHANMUGAM, S. G.; HALE, B.; KAMALAM, D. G.; WALL, L.; BRIONES, M. J. I.; HE, J.; KUMAR, R.; GHADERI, R.; SHARMA, R.; GÓMEZ‐BRANDÓN, M.; RASHID, M. I.; PAPPAS, M.; EGERTON‐WARBURTON, L.; SZLAVECZ, K.; BORRUSO, L.; BONGIORNO, G.; BIRNBAUM, C.; MANG'OKA, S.; KHAN, R.; ALISI, C.; MUMLADZE, L.; BURTON, V.; NAIKOO, N. B.; DUMONT, M.; OKTABA, L.; SCHMIDT, O.; MAYAD, E. H.; JACOBS, K.; ERNEST, C.; CHANDRAPPA, D. B.; SANTANDER‐MENDOZA, S.; MEDINA‐OROZCO, L.; SCHLOTER, M.; WINOWIECKI, L.; LUMINI, E.; BASTIAS, C. C.; BAKKER, M.; ZUCCONI, L.; CANINI, F.; TSIAFOULI, M.; MUDA, M. A.; SIERRA, S. S.; POSADA, R. H.; JACOMINI, C.; THANT, M.; NEHER, D. A.; NURBAITY, A.; DAVETA, M.; LATIF, R.; AMINJAN, A. R.; THORDARSON, H. N.; DIALLO, M. T.; BALL, B.; ADL, S.; LINDO, Z.

Open letter: A global call to strengthen national soil biodiversity action through coordination and harmonization.

Autores

Descripción

Soils are home to more than half of all terrestrial biodiversity (Anthony et al., 2023) and form the living foundation of terrestrial eco- systems (Wagg et al., 2014). Yet, soil biodiversity remains underrepre- sented in national biodiversity strategies, conservation targets, and monitoring frameworks of several countries on the five continents. Many of them do not have the capacity or need adjustment in order to start monitoring soil biodiversity (Brown et al., 2025). However, a growing number of countries (from the EU, Brazil, United States, Australia, China, India, and several others) are formally assessing soil biodiversity through innovative national monitoring programs (Brown et al., 2025).To promote the sustainable use and conservation of soil biodiversity, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) through the Global Soil Partnership (GSP) launched the International Network on Soil Biodiversity (NETSOB) during World Soil Day in 2021, as per the recommendation of the Global Symposium on Soil Biodiversity and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD, 2022). At COP15 in 2022, the Global Soil Biodiversity Observatory (GLOSOB) was established to begin addressing those gaps (Parnell, Brown, et al., 2025; Parnell, de Ruiter, et al., 2025) and help support countries in building capacity for monitoring, assessment and policy action. NETSOB Working Group 1 has been tasked with enabling national soil biodiversity assessments and harmonizing efforts across countries.