Soil Health Research
CA4SH advocates for the implementation of robust soil health monitoring frameworks to track interventions over time.
We are always collecting resources, updates, and initiatives from around the World to share in this Hub of all things soil health research.
Soil Health is “the ability of the soil to sustain the productivity, diversity, and environmental services of terrestrial ecosystems”
From the Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils (ITPS)
Research Initiatives
Land Degradation Surveillance Framework
The LDSF is a comprehensive method for assessing soil and land health that spans work in the field to the use of new and advanced data analytics. Land health generally refers to the degree to which the integrity of the soil, vegetation, water and air, as well as ecological processes, are balanced and sustained.
Recommended Measurements for Scaling Soil Health Assessment
The Soil Health Institute conducted a 3-year project that evaluated over 30 soil health indicators at 124 long-term agricultural research sites across North America, comparing conventional systems with regenerative soil health systems. Based on these results, SHI recommends three measurements to be widely applied across North America (and likely beyond) to evaluate soil health.
Resources
News and Updates
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.
On 5 June 2025, on the occasion of World Environment Day, the SOILL-Startup project officially announces the official launch of the SOILL Hub, a new collaborative digital platform designed to accelerate the European transition to healthy soils by 2030, in support of the EU Mission “A Soil Deal for Europe” and its community of Living Labs.
27 May 2025: The Coalition of Action 4 Soil Health (CA4SH) and the Vision for Adapted Crops and Soils (VACS) co-hosted a webinar exploring the role of multi-stakeholder action in addressing financing, implementation, and knowledge barriers to scaling soil health solutions.
The British Society of Soil Science is currently accepting oral and poster abstracts for both their Annual Conference and Early Careers Conference in December. The abstract review panel is accepting abstracts in one of five topics linked to the conference theme, Resilient Soils for a Sustainable Future.
Swansea, UK – 5 February 2025 – As the world faces mounting pressure to reduce synthetic fertiliser use amid climate and soil degradation crises, a groundbreaking £961,000 project led by Bionema Group, a UK-based biocontrol technology developer, is paving the way for a sustainable transformation in nutrient management. This project is funded by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) through the Farming Innovation Programme, under the Nutrient Management Competition. The programme is delivered in partnership with Innovate UK.
March 31, 2025: Healthy soil is the cornerstone of sustainable development, playing a critical role in climate regulation, combating desertification, and supporting biodiversity and ecosystems. Yet, unsustainable land management and climate change are increasing soil degradation and threatening the rich biodiversity beneath our feet.
At the Forum for the Future of Agriculture Conference in Brussels, SOILGUARD partners convened farmers, researchers, advisors, policymakers and interested stakeholders to reflect on the role of soil biodiversity and management in shaping effective policies. The Coalition of Action 4 Soil Health (CA4SH) joined the event and shares the following insights from the discussion, highlighting the urgent need to effectively integrate soil health into policy and practice.
