Dr Ian Hannam is an Adjunct Associate Professor with UNE’s Australian Centre for Agriculture and Law. He is also a member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) World Commission on Environmental Law (WCEL) and Chair Emeritus of the WCEL’s Specialist Group on Soil, Desertification and Sustainable Agriculture.
Ian is a collaborator with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation’s (UN FAO) Global Soil Partnership (GSP) which was formed in 2012. The GSP seeks to improve soil governance and raise awareness on the importance of soils in the global arena. The GSP is an open, interactive, responsive and voluntary partnership which includes the United Nations FAO Member countries and GSP partners – Governmental Organizations, Universities, Civil institutions, Research centres, Soil science societies, UN agencies, NGOs, Private companies, Farmer associations, Donors.
Not every country has a complete range of soil legislation which covers all forms of soil use, and soil governance is inconsistent across the globe. Stakeholders involved in soil management have requested that a database be created that is more specific and user-friendly for them.
The GSP has responded to this request and is currently creating a new database – SoiLEX – which can be utilised by all stakeholders involved in soil management. It will collect information on national soil legislation regarding soil protection, conservation and restoration. The information is being gathered from the majority of member countries of the Land and Water division of the FAO.
SoiLEX is being built upon existing databases – FAOLEX, a collection of legal frameworks and instruments relating to food, agriculture and natural resources management, and – EU Soil Wiki, an inventory of soil protection policies for EU Member States.
SoiLEX will facilitate access to information on existing legal instruments in force. It will provide a platform for stakeholders to make comparisons and share experiences between the differences in governance and policy making in different countries and regions.
The database will collect information on every aspect of soil management under the following categories: –
ü soil fertility/nutrient imbalance
ü soil salinization/sodification
ü soil acidification
ü soil sealing and land take
ü soil biodiversity
ü soil waterlogging/water management
ü soil compaction
ü soil pollution/contamination
ü soil erosion
ü soil organic carbon loss
ü soil restoration/remediation
ü soil conservation/protection
ü soil quality
ü soil monitoring
A questionnaire has been developed to verify the validity of information currently held on each country and to enrich the database. The questionnaire can be found here:
http://www.fao.org/global-soil-partnership/resources/highlights/detail/en/c/1274929/
The GSP is also creating a working group focusing on soil legislation to accompany SoiLEX. As well as contributing to the review of the database, this group will make SoiLEX relevant and useful to policy makers by engaging in thematic and country specific aspects of soil legislation and its implementation. This will enhance knowledge across member countries by documenting good practices and encouraging exchanges of experiences in soil governance across countries and regions.
Through his role as an Adjunct Associate Professor with UNE AgLaw, and his role under the WCEL, and his connection with the GSP, Ian has taken the opportunity to participate in the SoiLEX project. This has presented an opportunity for a final year UNE Law student to assist Ian with identifying relevant Australian soil laws, according to the SoiLEX criteria, to add to the database. Congratulations to Yasmin Fosternally who has been selected to assist with this project.
