40 Years ISRIC
On the occasion of it's 40th jubilee, ISRIC - World Soil Information organised an anniversary seminar on the topic of 'World soil issues and sustainable development: an agenda for action' on 9th March 2006.
Decision makers need up-to-date, accurate soil information to inform policy, development and day-to-day land and water management. But they don’t know it! More than 35 years ago, Robertson and Stoner observed: “It is alarming to observe how little of the land resource data investigated and mapped is actually used in development or management … its lack of use is by no means always related to irrelevance or the form in which it is presented …” Why has nothing changed? The seminar focussed on today’s global soil issues. Subsequently, three new Honorary Fellows were presented: Professor Dr Pedro Sanchez, Professor Dr Johan Bouma and Dr Luca Montanarella.