According to the World Soil Charter (FAO, 2015), "Healthy soils are a basic prerequisite for meeting diverse needs for food, biomass (energy), fibre, fodder and other products, and for ensuring the delivery of essential ecosystem services in all regions of the world. However, humanity is facing unprecedented pressures on land resources. In particular, various types of degradation - including sealing due to rapid urbanization - are taking a heavy toll, threatening food security and ecological balance. With the Sustainable Development Goals currently under consideration and about to be implemented, it is essential to ensure sustainable soil management so that these goals can become a reality".

The Global Land Partnership http://www.fao.org/global-soil-partnership/about/es/ was established in December 2012 as a mechanism to interact with stakeholders and improve collaboration and synergy of efforts among stakeholders. From land users to politicians, one of the key objectives of the WSA is to improve the governance and sustainable management of soils.

The WSA is subdivided into regional (continental), state or homogeneous geographical area alliances, such as the Alpine Soil Convention https://alpinesoils.eu/soil-partnership/alpine-soil-partnership/ which has proposed a Soil Conservation Protocol, which has yet to be implemented. They argue that although there are similar protocols widely implemented in national legislations, there is a need for a harmonized instrument at the scale of the entire massif.

It seems clear that a Pyrenean Soil Alliance would be a very useful instrument to be able to harmonise policies and actions in the Pyrenees between the 3 states, to promote soil conservation and maintenance of its quality, to coordinate and share experiences of sustainable soil management, and to ensure or increase carbon sequestration. These objectives are included in the recent EU mission "Soil health and food" and its publication: "Caring for soils is caring for life": https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-law-and-publications/publication-detail/-...

This survey is designed to find out the interests and priorities of the social actors, with a view to proposing a Pyrenean Soils Alliance.

Fill out the survey: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdoW6E-RecegGUj_1RTRy82jGpoaLXc...

OPCC, ICGC, Government of Navarra, UPNA, UdL