Second Plenary Meeting of the Eurasian Soil Partnership (EASP) - Workshop Report

Abstract

The workshop was organised around plenary presentations (in particular on the status of GSP and outcomes of the previous EASP meetings held in Samarkand, September 2014 and Antalya, October 2014) and plenary discussions for re-establishment of EASP Steering Committee and development and validation of the RIP. The 6 working groups discussed the proposed RIP components, outputs, activities, indicators, timeline, partners and budget/funding. The topics discussed included:  Pillar 1 Sustainable soi l management, protection and restoration (framework)  Pillar 2 Investment, technical cooperation, policy, education, awareness and extension in soil  Pillar 3 Targeted soil research and development  Pillars 4 and 5 Enhancing soil data and information and harmonization of methods, measurements and indicators  IYS 2015 in the EASP member countries  Financing RIP Donor mapping The workshop was also forward looking and provided recommendations for possible considerations and actions needed to promote and support implementation of the RIP. Furthermore, the workshop offered advice to GSP Focal Points and Secretariat with regard to the road map, next steps in the RIP development process and the additional actions that may be required to ensure that the document can be approved by GSP and successfully implemented. The importance for securing support for the RIP and to collaborate with variety of partners and projects, in particular FAO CACILM-II project for ‘Integrated natural resourc es management for salt affected and drought prone areas in Central Asia and Turkey’ was noted.