FAO Publications
Key soil publications
FAO is the lead United Nation’s agency concerned with soils. It hosts the Secretariat of the Global Soil Partnership and has in its long history produced guidelines and manuals on all aspects of soils. FAO assists member countries in soil matters in the field from HQ and Regional FAO offices with advice and project implementation.
| Soils, where food begins: how can soils continue to sustain the growing need for food production in the current fertilizer crisis? ITPS soil letter, issue #6 | |
| Soil Atlas of Asia: key messages and findings | |
| The Global Status of Black Soils | |
| The International Network on Soil Biodiversity brochure | |
| The soil microbe: a game changer for food and agriculture. Executive summary for policymakers and researchers | |
| The soil microbiome: a game changer for food and agriculture. Full report | |
| Country guidelines and technical specifications for global soil nutrient and nutrient budget maps | |
| Инновационные подходы и технологии управления засолением маргинальных земель Центральной Азии | |
| Soils for nutrition: the state of the art | |
| Global Soil Partnership 2012-2022. Sustainable soil management in action | |
| Salty soil adventures | |
| Global Soil Partnership timeline 2012-2022 | |
| Global Black Soil Distribution Map brochure | |
| Global Symposium on Salt-affected Soils: Outcome document. "Halt soil salinization, boost soil productivity" | |
| Global Symposium on Salt-affected Soils: Proceedings | |
| Global Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration Potential Map – GSOCseq v.1.1. Technical report | |
| A primer on soil analysis using visible and near-infrared (vis-NIR) and mid-infrared (MIR) spectroscopy English: FAO card | PDF | DOI - Russian: FAO card | PDF | DOI - Chinese: FAO card | PDF | DOI | |
| Global Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration Potential Map (GSOCseq). Brochure | |
| Urbanisation and soil sealing. ITPS soil letter, issue #5 | |
| World Soil Day - 5 December 2021. Campaign report | |
| Global soil organic carbon sequestration potential map (GSOCseq v1.1) - Technical manual | |
| Global Soil Laboratory Assessment 2020 – Laboratories’ capacities and needs | |
| Global Soil Spectroscopy Assessment. Spectral soil data – Needs and capacities | |
| Proceedings of the Global Symposium on Soil Biodiversity 2021 | |
| Global map of salt-affected soils: GSASmap v1.0 | |
| International Yearbook of Soil Law and Policy 2019 - Volume 4. "The Global Soil Partnership: Tackling Global Soil Threats Through Collective Action" | |
| Boosting smallholder resilience for recovery - Restoring soil health and productivity for safe, nutritious and resilient agri-food systems | |
| Spectroscopy: towards eco and human friendly soil analysis | |
| Recarbonizing global soils - A technical manual of recommended management practices. Volume 6: Forestry, wetlands, urban soils (case studies) | |
| Recarbonizing global soils – A technical manual of recommended management practices. Volume 5: Forestry, wetlands, urban soils (practices overview) | |
| Recarbonizing global soils – A technical manual of recommended management practices. Volume 4: Croplands, grasslands, integrated systems and farming approaches (case studies) | |
| Recarbonizing global soils – A technical manual of recommended management practices. Volume 3: Croplands, grasslands, integrated systems and farming approaches (practices overview) | |
| Recarbonizing global soils – A technical manual of recommended management practices. Volume 2: Hot spots and bright spots of soil organic carbon | |
| Recarbonizing global soils – A technical manual of recommended management practices. Volume 1: Introduction and methodology | |
| Keep soil alive, Protect soil biodiversity - GSOBI Outcome document | |
| Устойчивое управление почвенными ресурсами в Евразийском регионе | |
| Global Assessment of Soil Pollution: Main report | |
| Global Assessment of Soil Pollution: Summary for Policy Makers | |
| Salt-affected soils are a global issue | |
| The Magical World of Soil Biodiversity English: FAO card and PDF | Russian: FAO card and PDF | Kyrgyz: FAO card - DOI - PDF | |
| Soil organic carbon and nitrogen: Reviewing the challenges for climate change mitigation and adaptation in Agri-food systems | |
| World Soil Day 2020 campaign report | |
| Guía de buenas prácticas para la gestión y uso sostenible de los suelos en áreas rurales | |
| Protocol for the assessment of Sustainable Soil Management | |
| State of knowledge of soil biodiversity – Status, challenges and potentialities. Summary for policy makers English: FAO card and PDF | Spanish: FAO card and PDF | French: FAO card and PDF | |
| State of knowledge of soil biodiversity – Status, challenges and potentialities | |
| Mainstreaming gender for sustainable soil management | |
| ITPS Soil letter, ISSUE #1, Sep 2020 | |
| Technical specifications and country guidelines for Global Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration Potential Map (GSOCseq) | |
| GSOC MRV Protocol: A protocol for measurement, monitoring, reporting and verification of soil organic carbon in agricultural landscapes | |
| Manual for the implementation of the Global Soil Doctors Programme at the country level | |
| Global Soil Doctors Programme: Soil testing methods manual | |
| Mapping salt-affected soils – Training manuals
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| Recarbonization of global soils FAO card and PDF in English | PDF in Spanish and FAO card | |
| WSD 2019: Overview and key results | |
| Global Symposium on Soil Erosion: Outcome Document | |
| The International Code of Conduct for the Sustainable Use and Management of Fertilizers FAO card and PDF in English | PDF in Arabic and FAO card | PDF in Chinese and FAO card | PDF in French and FAO card | PDF in Russian and FAO card | PDF in Spanish and FAO card | |
| Soil loss Atlas of Malawi | |
| Soil Erosion: the Greatest Challenge for Sustainable Soil Management | |
| GLOSOLAN - The Global Soil Laboratory Network | |
| The multi-faced role of soil in the Near East and North Africa FAO card and PDF in English | FAO card and PDF in French | FAO card and PDF in Arabic | |
| Alianzas regionales de Latinoamérica y el Caribe: Principales logros | |
| Soil and nutrient loss in Malawi: an economic assessment | |
| Soil nutrient loss assessment in Malawi, Technical report | |
| Impact of Soil Loss in Malawi: Macroeconomic effect on GDP, Sectoral Adjustments and Poverty | |
| Impact of Soil Loss in Malawi: Microeconomic effects of soil and nutrient loss. Profitability and mitigation measures | |
| World Soil Day Award factsheet | |
| Glinka World Soil Prize factsheet | |
| Global Soil Partnership factsheet | |
| Proceedings of the GSOP18 | |
| GSOP18 Outcome Document: Be The Solution to Soil Pollution PDF in English and FAO card | PDF in Spanish and FAO card | PDF in French and FAO card | |
| Global Soil Organic Carbon map: Technical Report | |
| Soil Pollution: a Hidden Reality | |
| Soil Organic Carbon Mapping Cookbook 2nd Edition | |
| World Soil Day 2017 | Events around the globe in pictures | |
| The GSOC map information leaflet | |
| Global assessment on the impact of plant protection products on soil functions and soil ecosystems | |
| Be inspired, take the challenge and celebrate soils! | |
| Soil Experiments for CHILDREN | |
| Proceedings of the Global Symposium on Soil Organic Carbon 2017
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| Handbook for Saline Soil Management | |
| Soils' Potential to Contribute to Offset International Aviation Emissions | |
| GSOC17 Outcome Document: Unlocking the Potential of Soil Organic Carbon PDF in English & FAO card | Spanish & FAO card | French & FAO card | |
| Soil Organic Carbon - The Hidden Potential PDF in English & FAO card | French & FAO card | Spanish & FAO card | |
| Voluntary Guidelines for Sustainable Soil Management PDF in English & FAO card | French & FAO card | Spanish & FAO card | Arabic & FAO card | Chinese & FAO card | Russian & FAO card | Ukrainian & FAO card | Portuguese & FAO card | Turkish & FAO card | Italian & FAO card | |
| Soil and Pulses, Symbiosis for Life | |
| Soil Loss Assessment in Malawi | |
| Land resources and food security of Central Asia and Southern Caucasus | |
| Status of the World's Soil Resources Main Report | Technical Summary in English & FAO card (Français & FAO card | Espanol & FAO card) | Brochure | |
| Boosting Africa's Soils | |
| Testing Field Methods for Assessing the Forest Protective Function for Soil and Water | |
| Field Guide for Rapid Assessment of Forest Protective Function for Soil and Water | |
| Revised World Soil Charter (2015) PDF in English & FAO card | French & FAO card | Spanish & FAO card | Arabic & FAO card | Chinese & FAO card | Russian & FAO card | |
| Understanding Mountain Soils: A Contribution from mountain areas to the International Year of Soils 2015 | |
| Farmer's Compost Handbook (2015) | |
| World reference base for soil resources 2014, Update 2015 PDF in English & FAO card | French & FAO card | Russian & FAO card | |
| Soils Challenge Badge | Yunga Booklet (2014) English | Chinese | Spanish | French | Italian | Portuguese | Russian | |
| State of the Art Report on Global and Regional Soil Information (2013) | |
| Soil carbon monitoring using surveys and modelling (2012) | |
| Challenges and Opportunities for Carbon Sequestration in Grassland Systems (2010) | |
| Visual Soil Assessment (VSA) Field Guides (2008) | |
| Harmonized World Soil Database (2009) English (temp) | |
| World Reference Base for Soil resources (2006) Arabic | English | German | Russian | Turkish | Sloven | Spanish | Slovak | |
| Guidelines for Soil Description (2006) | |
| Optimizing soil moisture for plant production | |
| Major soils of the World (2002) | |
| Regional Soil and Terrain Databases (1995-2008) | |
| The FAO-UNESCO Soil Map of the World (1974-1980) | |
Soils Bulletins
FAO Soils Bulletins are an historical FAO serie which started in 1965. There are 80 issues and many of those are available in FAO official languages. We are currently in the process of scanning this bulletins therefore some links are not active. However, the full collection will be soon available.
80 |
| The importance of soil organic matter - key to drought-resistant soil and sustained food production, 2005 |
79 |
| Optimizing soil moisture for plant production - the significance of soil porosity, 2003 |
78 |
| Conservation agriculture - case studies in Latin America and Africa, 2001 English | Spanish (soon available) |
77 |
| Soil management and conservation for small farms: strategies and methods of introduction, technologies and equipment, 2000 |
World Soil Resources Reports
World Soil Resources Reports are an historical FAO serie which started in 1961. There are 104 issues and many of those are available in FAO official languages. We are currently in the process of scanning this reports therefore some links are not active. However, the full collection will be soon available.
106 |
| World reference base for soil resources 2014. International soil classification system for naming soils and creating legends for soil maps |
105 |
| Africa and the Carbon Cycle - Proceedings of the Open Science Conference on “Africa and Carbon Cycle: the CarboAfrica project” |
104 |
| Advances in the assessment and monitoring of salinization and status of biosaline agriculture, 2009 |
103 |
| World reference base for soil resources 2006, First update 2007 English | See here for updates and Translation in other 12 languages |
102 |
| Carbon sequestration in dryland soils, 2004 |
