What is Soil Carbon Sequestration?

Carbon sequestration occurs within – is a part of – the carbon cycle. The IPCC says “carbon cycle” is “the term used to describe the exchange of carbon (in various forms, e.g., as carbon dioxide) between the atmosphere, ocean, terrestrial biosphere and geological deposits,” in short the exchanges between reservoirs.

More specifically as to soils, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) answers the question, “What is soil carbon sequestration?”

"Atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide can be lowered either by reducing emissions or by taking carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and storing in terrestrial, oceanic, or freshwater aquatic ecosystems. A sink is defined as aprocess or an activity that removes greenhouse gas from the atmosphere. The long-term conversion of grassland and forestland to cropland (and grazing lands) has resulted in historic losses of soil carbon worldwide but there is a major potential for increasing soil carbon through restoration of degraded soils and widespread adoption of soil conservation practices."

FAO is concerned with the effect of agriculture on climate change, the impact of climate change on agriculture and with the role that agriculture can play in mitigating climate change. Historically, land-use conversion and soil cultivation have been an important source of greenhouse gases (GHGs) to the atmosphere. It is estimated that they are responsible for about one-third of GHG emissions.

However, improved agricultural practices can help mitigate climate change by reducing emissions from agriculture and other sources and by storing carbon in plant biomass and soils. The work of FAO aims to identify, develop and promote cultural practices that reduce agricultural emissions and sequester carbon while helping to improve the livelihoods of farmers, especially in developing countries, through increased production and additional incomes from carbon credits under the mechanisms that have emerged since the Kyoto Protocol.

The main purpose of this Soil Carbon Sequestration website section is to provide information on the activities of the Land Tenure and Management Unit of FAO on soil carbon sequestration within the framework of its activities on the integrated planning and management of land resources for sustainable rural development.

The objective is to reverse land degradation due to deforestation and inadequate land use/management in the tropics and sub-tropics through the promotion of improved land use systems and land management practices which provide win-win effects in terms of economic gains and environmental benefits, greater agro-biodiversity, improved conservation and environmental management and increased carbon sequestration.

The development of agriculture during past centuries and particularly in last decades has entailed depletion of substantive soil carbon stocks created through long-term evolution. Agricultural soils are among the planet's largest reservoirs of carbon and hold potential for expanded carbon sequestration (CS), and thus provide a prospective way of mitigating the increasing atmospheric concentration of CO2. It is estimated that soils can sequester around 20 Pg C in 25 years, more than 10 % of the anthropogenic emissions.

At the same time, this process provides other important benefits for soil, crop and environment quality, prevention of erosion and desertification and for the enhancement of bio-diversity. The UN Convention to Combat Desertification(UNCCD) is concerned that extensive areas of formerly productive land, in the arid and semi arid regions in particular, have been rendered unsuitable for crop production due to ongoing land degradation.

Land degradation does not only reduce crop yields but often reduces the carbon content of agro-ecosystems, which is of concern to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC). The UN Convention on Biodiversity (UNCBD) is concerned that biodiversity and conditions conducive for biodiversity are being reduced in agro-ecosystems due to the very same processes. It is therefore important to identify what important synergies can be found between these three UN conventions; UNFCC, UNCCD and UNCBD.

Carbon sequestration activities have been supported through the CDM (Clean Development Mechanism) under the Kyoto protocol with a focus on afforestation and reforestation, seen as being the most effective and readily measurable means to sequester carbon as biomass both above and below ground. In the post, Kyoto negotiations efforts are being made to give due attention to the huge carbon sequestration potentials in rangelands (Neily, Bunning, Wikes 2009) and to soil carbon sequestration (paper by al 2009).

Soil biodiversity reflects the variability among living organisms including a myriad of organisms not visible with the naked eye, such as micro-organisms (e.g. bacteria, fungi, protozoa and nematodes) and meso-fauna (e.g. acari and springtails), as well as the more familiar macro-fauna (e.g. earthworms and termites). Plant roots can also be considered as soil organisms in view of their symbiotic relationships and interactions with other soil components.

These diverse organisms interact with one another and with the various plants and animals in the ecosystem forming a complex web of biological activity. Soil organisms contribute a wide range of essential services to the sustainable function of all ecosystems. They act as the primary driving agents of nutrient cycling, regulating the dynamics of soil organic matter, soil carbon sequestration and greenhouse gas emission, modifying soil physical structure and water regimes, enhancing the amount and efficiency of nutrient acquisition by the vegetation and enhancing plant health. These services are not only essential to the functioning of natural ecosystems but constitute an important resource for the sustainable management of agricultural systems.

Land Policy and Planning

Land policy aims to achieve certain objectives relating to the security and distribution of land rights, land use and land management, and access to land, including the forms of tenure under which it is held. A land-use policy is essentially an expression of the government's perception of the direction to be taken on major issues related to land use and the proposed allocation of the national land resources over a fixed period of time. It has a production and a conservation component. A sound national land-use policy is effectively part of the enabling environment and should cover all uses of land. To achieve the policy objective of sustainable production and conservation of natural resources, governments should pursue strategies which actively promote forms of land use which are both attractive to the people and sustainable in terms of their impacts on land resources. By developing the national land-use policies through a participatory, integrated and iterative process, there is a much greater likelihood of achieving this.

In 1992, Agenda 21 recognized the need for integrated planning and management of land resources, stating that it should be a decision making process that "facilitates the allocation of land to the uses that provide the greatest sustainable benefits" (Agenda 21, paragraph 10.5). Land use planning is even more crucial today, with growing pressures from climate change, urbanization and biofuels. Much high potential land is being lost to settlements; land which previously grew food crops is being planted with feedstocks for biofuels rather than food; climate change is limiting arable cropping in drylands, reducing productivity of rangelands and increasing sea levels, creating problems in coastal areas.

In 1997, the Commission for Sustainable Development (CSD), in a special session convened to assess progress towards sustainable development (Earth Summit + 5), reiterated the needs and recommended that, at the international level, priority should go to developing and disseminating a new approach to land resources conservation and development. It specified that this approach should create social, economic and legal conditions that encourage sustainable development, meet the information needs of governments and land users, and involve all relevant institutions. This is in accordance with FAO's responsibility as Task Manager for Chapter 10 of Agenda 21, which resulted from UNCED. During the recent sessions of CSD, a major attention was placed on Agricultural land, CSD-16 (2008) which focused on technical review and CSD -17 (2009) which focused on policy implications.

Every year 19.5 million hectares of agricultural land is converted to spreading urban centres and industrial developments, often forcing farmers onto shrinking and more marginal lands. The uncontrolled expansion of human settlements constitutes a challenge for sustainable land planning and management. Particularly the concentration of people and cities in coastal areas increases the demand for limited land resources. Coastal areas are among the most crowded regions in the world. Demands on land resources and the risks to sustainability are likely to intensify.

Population growth, economic development and urbanization are driving demands for food, water, energy and raw materials; the continued shift in human diet from cereal to animal products, requiring a higher input in land and water resources, and the recent move towards biofuels add to the demand for farm production, all of this with implications for land uses.

As for any form of agriculture, expanded biofuel production may threaten land and water resources as well as biodiversity, and appropriate policy measures are required to minimize possible negative effects. The impacts will vary across feedstocks and locations and will depend on cultivation practices and whether new land is converted for production of biofuel feedstocks or other crops are displaced by biofuels. Expanded demand for agricultural commodities will exacerbate pressures on the natural resource base, especially if the demand is met through area expansion. On the other hand, the use of perennial feedstocks on marginal or degraded lands may offer promise for sustainable biofuel production, but the economic viability of such options may be a constraint at least in the short run.

Land-use (or Land Resources) Planning

Land-use (or Land Resources) Planning is a systematic and iterative procedure carried out in order to create an enabling environment for sustainable development of land resources which meets people’s needs and demands. It assesses the physical, socio-economic, institutional and legal potentials and constraints with respect to an optimal and sustainable use of land resources, and empowers people to make decisions about how to allocate those resources.

These are matched through a multiple goal analysis and assessment of the intrinsic value of the various environmental and natural resources of the land unit. The result is an indication of a preferred future land use, or combination of uses. Through a negotiation process with all stakeholders, the outcome is improved, agreed decisions on the concrete allocation of land for specific uses (or non-uses) through legal and administrative measures, which will lead eventually to implementation of the plan.

Land-use planning at the national level

Land-use planning can be applied at three broad levels: national, district and local. These are not necessarily sequential but correspond to the levels of government at which decisions about land use are taken. Different kinds of decision are taken at each level, where the methods of planning and kinds of plan also differ. However, at each level there is need for a land-use strategy, policies that indicate planning priorities, projects that tackle these priorities and operational planning to get the work done. The greater the interaction between the three levels of planning, the better. The flow of information should be in both directions . At each successive level of planning, the degree of detail needed increases, and so too should the direct participation of the local people.

At the national level, planning is concerned with national goals and the allocation of resources. In many cases, national land-use planning does not involve the actual allocation of land for different uses, but the establishment of priorities for district-level projects.

A national land-use plan may cover:

• land-use policy: balancing the competing demands for land among different sectors of the economy food production, export crops, tourism, wildlife conservation, housing and public amenities, roads, industry;
• national development plans and budget: project identification and the allocation of resources for development;
• coordination of sectoral agencies involved in land use;

• legislation on such subjects as land tenure, forest clearance and water rights. National goals are complex while policy decisions, legislation and fiscal measures affect many people and wide areas. Decision-makers cannot possibly be specialists in all facets of land use, so the planners' responsibility is to present the relevant information in terms that the decision-makers can both comprehend and act on.

Planning at these different levels needs information at different scales and levels of generalization. Much of this information may be found on maps. The most suitable map scale for national planning is one by which the whole country fits on to one map sheet, which may call for a scale from 1:5 million to 1:1 million or larger. District planning requires details to be mapped at about 1:50000, although some information may be summarized at smaller scales, down to 1:250000. For local planning, maps of between 1:20000 and 1:5000 are best. Reproductions of air photographs can be used as base maps at the local level, since field workers and experience show that local people can recognize where they are on the photos.

Land-use planning at the district level

District level refers not necessarily to administrative districts but also to land areas that fall between national and local levels. Development projects are often at this level, where planning first comes to grips with the diversity of the land and its suitability to meet project goals. When planning is initiated nationally, national priorities have to be translated into local plans. Conflicts between national and local interests will have to be resolved.

The kinds of issues tackled at this stage include:

• the siting of developments such as new settlements, forest plantations and irrigation schemes;
• the need for improved infrastructure such as water supply, roads and marketing facilities;
• the development of management guidelines for improved kinds of land use on each type of land.

Land-use planning at the local level

The local planning unit may be the village, a group of villages or a small water catchment. At this level, it is easiest to fit the plan to the people, making use of local people's knowledge and contributions. Where planning is initiated at the district level, the programme of work to implement changes in land use or management has to be carried out locally. Alternatively, this may be the first level of planning, with its priorities drawn up by the local people. Local-level planning is about getting things done on particular areas of land - what shall be done where and when, and who will be responsible.

Bottom-up planning is initiated at the local level and involves active participation by the local community. The experience and local knowledge of the land users and local technical staff are mobilized to identify development priorities and to draw up and implement plans.

The advantages are: • local targets, local management and local benefits. People will be more enthusiastic about a plan seen as their own, and they will be more willing to participate in its implementation and monitoring; • more popular awareness of land-use problems and opportunities; • plans can pay close attention to local constraints, whether these are related to natural resources or socio-economic problems; • better information is fed upwards for higher levels of planning The disadvantages are that: • local interests are not always the same as regional or national interests; • difficulties occur in integrating local plans within a wider framework; • limited technical knowledge at the local level means technical agencies need to make a big investment in time and labour in widely scattered places; • local efforts may collapse because of a lack of higher-level support or even obstruction.

Local people are usually those best informed of local conditions, resources and problems. However, individuals can rarely negotiate on equal terms with the organized structures of government and the private sector with which they interact. The formation of local resource management groups (LRMGs) empowers stakeholders and brings them together to coordinate and address mutually important land resource issues. When there is local “ownership”, their creativity, initiative and enthusiasm will contribute greatly to the overall outcome. Ownership translates to responsibility on the part of stakeholders and in some cases voluntary contribution of resources

Role of Land Use in Urban and Regional Planning

Planning land use (Land Use) was instrumental in planning the city and was instrumental in influencing land use plan decisions:

1. Planning land use act as a coordinator / manager as a creator, and as that applying any form of land use planning regulations.

2. Land use planners encourage / support the community people together to achieve mutual benefits.

3. Land use planners must work effectively in view and respond to all interests, action and cooperation with the various "players".

4. Land use planners is not just a planner but also must act as a manager, preparing and implementing regulations and build bridges of cooperation between the actors involved to achieve common goals.

5. Planners have a unique position because it is responsible for the making of plans, regulations and the process of involving the community (participation) in the preparation of plans and policy evaluation.

Land use planners is not just a planner but also must act as a manager, preparing and implementing regulations and build bridges of cooperation between the actors involved to achieve common goals.

Planners have a unique position because it is responsible for the making of plans, regulations and the process of involving the community (participation) in the preparation of plans and policy evaluation.

a. Market-oriented actors (private sector, landowners, developers, builders, brokers, etc.) who seek to profit from changes in land use.

b. Government (central, provincial, local) that represent the interests of society as a whole.

c. Interest groups, which include representatives of special interests, such as environmental protection, environmental conservation, economic development, farmers, minorities, etc., who see through the eyes of the interests of their group opponents.

The actors (stakeholders) will compete both on the content (content) as well as regulatory procedures of land, planning and development decisions. Sometimes they work together and sometimes conflicting. Planners must understand the purpose and interest of each actor.

- In theory, the actors associated with the use of land are always in conflict (incompatibility) that continually cause endless pressure on land use planning.

- In practice, the conflict is regulated through a system of rules (laws) and the system of government

land use management

Stewardship land is a term used to refer to a branch of social policy that uses a variety of science to manage and regulate land use to run efficiently and ethically.

Many definitions are being developed to define the land use management, including the Canadian Institute of Planners defines that: "Planning [land use management] is a scientific approach, aesthetics, and regulation of land use, resources, facilities and services to ensure the efficiency of physical, economic and social development and health and welfare of urban and rural communities.

Ground water

Ground water is water contained in soil or rock layer below the soil surface. Ground water is one of the water resources are relatively limited and the damage can lead to high impact and recovery difficult.

In addition to river water and rain water, ground water also has a very important role especially in maintaining the balance and availability of raw material water for household purposes (domestic) or for industrial purposes. In some areas, dependence on clean water supplies and ground water has reached ± 70%.

Damage to water sources

Damage to water resources can not be separated from damage such as damage to surrounding land, vegetation and population pressures. These three issues are interrelated in affecting the availability of water resources.

This state of affairs of course need to be observed at an early stage, so as not to cause damage to groundwater in surrounding areas. Several factors are causing the problems are:

1. Rapid industrial growth in an area along with residential growth will lead to the tendency of increase in demand for ground water.
2. Use a variety of water so different in interests, purposes and how to obtain sources of water.
3. Need to change the attitude of most people who tend to be wasteful in water use traditional as well as neglecting the element of conservation.

Public Participation and Awareness Campaign in the Waste Water Management

The problem of environmental pollution has become a problem of governments, both national and local government. Even the Central Government considers that prevention of domestic waste water is not the responsibility of local governments, but also the responsibility of the relevant community.From year to year budget of the central and local government always rose steadily in the handling of this waste water, but without intervention and community participation in part to handle the distribution, processing and disposal of waste water in the cities, the pollution problem will not be resolved.

Increased community participation is necessary to remember the population of a city is very heterogeneous both in terms of ethnicity, religion, socio-cultural or socio-economics, so this tends to cause insecurity, especially in social discipline. For the role of society can be realized in a real, there should be efforts to raise motivation, ability, opportunity and explore and develop resources that exist in society, so people are willing to participate in the prevention of environmental pollution problems.