Rangelands are a critical ecosystem, deeply rooted in traditional, indigenous land uses and livelihoods, and a major player for carbon sequestration, food and nutrition security, biodiversity, and climate adaptation. As scientific and multistakeholder organizations, the CIFOR-ICRAF Soil and Land Health Research Theme and the Coalition of Action 4 Soil Health (CA4SH) attended and led several sessions at the 2025 International Rangelands Congress (IRC) from 2-6 June 2025 in Adelaide Australia, including a two-day pre-congress workshop toward a Global Rangelands Standard & Monitoring Framework.

This week, at the Centennial Celebration and Congress of the International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS) in  Florence, Italy, the Honorable Penelope Wensley AC was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal in recognition of her environmental advocacy, diplomacy, and the pursuit of scaling soil health.

Founded as the International Society of Soil Science (ISSS) on 19th May 1924, the International Union of Soil Scientists (IUSS), with the Italian Soil Science Society (SISS) welcomed more than 1500 scientists from all over the world to Rome, Italy, where the IUSS was founded, to celebrate 100 years of action on soils.