Mission 007 - Strategies for Codifying Soil Security in National Policies and Global Instruments (Soil Security Series)

Save Soil, Aroura the Soil Security Think Tank, and IUCN WCEL are co-hosting a 3-part series on soil as the single leverage point for addressing major global challenges of our time, highlighting rich, diverse stories of challenges and successes from around the world. Part 3 will delve into the need for soil security to be enshrined in national and regional policies, and the need for a larger global instrument dedicated to soil security. As global frameworks like the Global Biodiversity Framework, UNCCD, and climate agreements call for stronger land governance, now is the moment to elevate soil governance and regulation. This panel will explore how soil can be codified into legal and policy frameworks at national and international levels. It will present a generic national soil policy strategy, as well as highlight emerging models and legal innovations that elevate soil protection and make the case for soil to be a legally protected entity.

Date, Time & Format: 

September 28th

3:30pm IST / 6am EDT / 8pm AEST / 12pm CEST, UTC+2 (Convert to local time here)

Zoom Registration Link: savesoil.org/SoilSecurity

Speakers:

Professor Alex McBratney

Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow

Professor of Digital Agriculture and Soil Science, University of Sydney

Professor Alex McBratney is a world-leading soil scientist and ARC Laureate Fellow. He pioneered the fields of Pedometrics and Digital Soil Mapping and co-founded the Soil Security framework, concepts that have transformed global soil science and agricultural practice. His work has enabled precision and digital agriculture worldwide, improving productivity while reducing environmental impact.

Dr. Irene Heuser

Chair of the Specialist Group on Soil and Sustainable Agriculture Law (SoilSAL)

IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law (WCEL)

Dr. Irene Heuser is a specialist in International, EU and German environmental law, especially in soil protection law. She received “summa cum laude” in Law for her PhD thesis on the European Soil Protection Law (2005) from the University of Trier, Germany. She is currently Head of the Unit “EU Policy, EU Law, Development Policy” and Deputy Head of the International Department of the Ministry for Europe in Potsdam, Germany. She previously worked in several leading positions for the State of Brandenburg and the Commission of the European Communities, Direction-General Environment. Dr. Heuser is co-editor of the International Yearbook on Soil Law and Policy (IYSLP). She has written widely on soil protection, agricultural and sustainability law in the context of national, EU and international law and has spoken at major conferences on soil protection, EU, and international environmental law.

Praveena Sridhar (Moderator)

Chief Science and Technology Officer, 

Save Soil Movement, Isha Outreach

IUCN NGO 

Praveena Sridhar is a passionate environmental engineer and policy expert with 20 years of experience in sustainable water and soil initiatives. She has led systems-strengthening for Frank Water and is currently serving as Chief Science & Policy Officer at the Save Soil Movement, for which she has helped shape agroforestry and river restoration policies that mobilized multi-billion-dollar public investments. Her proven track record includes environmental policy work, stakeholder engagement, large campaign strategy (UNFCCC COPs, UNCCD COPs, IUCN congresses and Harvard medical symposium), and policy influence at national and international platforms.