Livestock Research Group - October 2015 Newsletter

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• Support of innovation and its promotion
by appropriate policies
• Monitoring and estimating variations in
soil carbon stock, especially at the farm
level
As reported in the previous LRG newsletter
in July 2015, the LRG and the GRA’s Soil
Carbon & Nitrogen Cycling Cross-Cutting
Group held a joint workshop in late June to
discuss the 4‰ Initiative, specifically as it
relates to soil carbon in grassland systems.
There was strong support by participants
then to be a part of the international research
programme. This interest carried over to
the recent GRA Council meeting, where
representatives requested that the Research
Groups support the initiative (although it
was noted that individual member countries
are still considering their own positions).
The LRG co-chairs will work actively with
co-chairs of other Research Groups and
the GRA Chair, Vice-Chair and Secretariat
to define the ways in which the LRG could
become involved in this initiative.
For more information, see
soils-food-security-and-climate-0
Page 9
Soil degradation poses a threat to more
than 40% of the Earth’s land surfaces.
Climate change is accelerating this rate of
degradation and threatening food security.
The French Government has launched
a major international effort seeking to
achieve a “4‰“(four thousandths or 4 per
1000) annual growth rate of the global soil
carbon stock. According to a factsheet
from the French Ministry of Agriculture,
Agrifood and Forestry, this would absorb and
store the equivalent of the world’s annual
CO 2 anthropogenic emissions, “making it
possible to stop the present increase in
atmospheric CO2 ”. This growth rate is not
presented as a normative target for every
country but is intended to show that even
a small increase in the soil carbon stock
(agricultural soils notably grasslands and
pastures, and forest soils) could significantly
alter agriculture’s contribution to climate
change while improving soil fertility and
agricultural production.
The 4‰ Initiative aims to improve the
organic matter content and promote
carbon sequestration in soils through the
application of agricultural practices adapted
to local conditions both economically,
environmentally and socially, such as
agro-ecology, agroforestry, conservation
agriculture and landscape management.
The initiative seeks a wide range
of participation from governments,
local authorities, companies, farmer
organisations, NGOs and research institutes.
A ‘voluntary action plan’ is envisaged where
stakeholders commit to implement/support
farming practices that maintain or enhance
soil carbon stock on as many agricultural
soils as possible and to preserve carbon-
rich soils. This would be supported by
an international research and scientific
‘cooperation programme’, focused on four
complementary research themes:
• Study of mechanisms and assessment of
the potential for carbon storage in soils
across regions and systems
• Performance evaluation of best farming
practices for soil carbon and their impact
on other GHGs, on food security and on
other regulation and production services
4 per mille: soils for food security
and climate