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Driving Global Soil Security
Join us in our mission to safeguard the world’s soils through innovative summits, insightful documents, and engaging newsletters (coming soon!!).
The Soil Security Declaration
Discover groundbreaking global call to action to address soil degradation.
The Soil Principles
Discover the essential guidelines to implement effective policies for soil preservation and restoration.
Latest Communiqué
The Second Global Soil Security Summit
October 17th, 2025
The members of Aroura, the Soil Security Think Tank, convened in Sydney, Australia, from October 14th – 17th to review its progress. The participants reaffirmed that, while soil contributes to the solution of global existential crises, its role remains insufficiently recognised in international discourse. The necessity of a soil-centric approach is not yet fully appreciated, nor is it accepted that soil security itself is an existential crisis. The group concluded that a dedicated global convention to secure soil is needed and discussed the steps required to achieve this.
Over the last year, Aroura has authored five peer-reviewed publications, elaborating the policy principles of soil security agreed at the first Global Soil Security Summit and advancing how the soil security framework can contribute to solve other existential challenges on the global agenda. Members of the Think Tank promoted the concept at international conferences in Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceania. Recognising that soil security extends beyond the scientific domain, the Think Tank has strengthened its public outreach through social media, blogs, podcasts, webinars and collaborative events to promote awareness of the Soil Security Framework.
Aroura supported the successful adoption of a Soil Security Law Resolution by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) World Conservation Congress 2025. The Motion proposing the Resolution stimulated valuable discussion among IUCN members (States, NGOs, indigenous peoples’ organisations) on soil security and possible legal instruments at national, regional and international levels.
Participants discussed steps towards a global soil convention and had in-depth discussions to define a template for national soil security strategies. Discussion papers addressing both the global convention to secure soil and the national soil security strategy template will be released in the coming months.
Responding to expressed external interest, the Think Tank explored different means of associating multiple stakeholders, including the establishment of the Friends of Soil Security. An inaugural online forum will be convened in 2026 to advance engagement with stakeholders and identify pathways for coordinated action.
Soil security is gaining recognition and the Think Tank invites interested institutions and individuals to join the conversation.
our fondamentals
The Soil Security Declaration
The Inaugural Global Soil Security Summit was highly productive, yielding two landmark documents.
The first one is the Soil Security Declaration, a global call to action to prioritise soil protection.
The Soil Security Declaration
We urge the nations and peoples of the world to acknowledge the vital significance of soil for both humanity and the planet. It is imperative that we develop a comprehensive plan of action to safeguard the world’s soil for the future. Soil provides an essential foundation for life and human civilisation. While its natural formation may take millennia, its degradation can occur almost instantaneously, presenting a profound challenge to our shared future. The loss of soil function poses serious risks to our food systems, economies, societies, ecosystems, and the overall stability of our global community. The UNCCD reports that we annually lose 24 billion tonnes of fertile soil, causing significant economic damage. This underscores that soil insecurity is not only an environmental concern but also a pressing economic issue.
History serves as a reminder of the far-reaching consequences of soil insecurity. The decline of great civilisations, such as the Babylonian and Mayan Empires, highlight the critical importance of soil security. Furthermore, current events—such as the devastation of vital agricultural regions in Ukraine due to conflict and the salinisation of vast tracts of soil in Central Asia—illustrate ongoing challenges. Regions that become unproductive and uninhabitable may face significant migratory pressures, which could exacerbate tensions over diminishing resources. The emergence of new threats, including the accumulation of exogenous chemicals in soil, and their unknown impacts, adds urgency to the mission of securing soil, including its regeneration.
It is essential to recognise that soil is central to addressing eight existential challenges of our time: food security, water security, energy security, climate change mitigation and adaptation, biodiversity preservation, supporting human health, sustainable ecosystems and soil security itself. Soil should not be conflated with land; it requires its own dedicated regulation and thoughtful stewardship.
To confront this pressing issue, we have developed a set of core principles to guide global efforts toward ensuring soil security. We advocate for the design and implementation of effective policies and laws that engage diverse communities through a collaborative governance model, fostering the connection between people and soil. We encourage every nation to adopt comprehensive soil strategies that recognize and harness the myriad benefits of soil for humanity and the planet. Such strategies should incorporate incentive-based approaches that encourage positive actions for sustainable soil management and usage.
As participants in the first Global Soil Security Summit, we issue this declaration—a global call to action. We urge governments, legislatures, scientists, businesses, and citizens worldwide to join forces in the vital effort to secure our soils. We aim to promote the recognition, protection, and sustainable management of soil resources.
The University of Sydney, Thursday, October 17 , 2024
The Soil Security Declaration
We urge the nations and peoples of the world to acknowledge the vital significance of soil for both humanity and the planet. It is imperative that we develop a comprehensive plan of action to safeguard the world’s soil for the future. Soil provides an essential foundation for life and human civilisation. While its natural formation may take millennia, its degradation can occur almost instantaneously, presenting a profound challenge to our shared future. The loss of soil function poses serious risks to our food systems, economies, societies, ecosystems, and the overall stability of our global community. The UNCCD reports that we annually lose 24 billion tonnes of fertile soil, causing significant economic damage. This underscores that soil insecurity is not only an environmental concern but also a pressing economic issue.
History serves as a reminder of the far-reaching consequences of soil insecurity. The decline of great civilisations, such as the Babylonian and Mayan Empires, highlight the critical importance of soil security. Furthermore, current events—such as the devastation of vital agricultural regions in Ukraine due to conflict and the salinisation of vast tracts of soil in Central Asia—illustrate ongoing challenges. Regions that become unproductive and uninhabitable may face significant migratory pressures, which could exacerbate tensions over diminishing resources. The emergence of new threats, including the accumulation of exogenous chemicals in soil, and their unknown impacts, adds urgency to the mission of securing soil, including its regeneration.
It is essential to recognise that soil is central to addressing eight existential challenges of our time: food security, water security, energy security, climate change mitigation and adaptation, biodiversity preservation, supporting human health, sustainable ecosystems and soil security itself. Soil should not be conflated with land; it requires its own dedicated regulation and thoughtful stewardship.
To confront this pressing issue, we have developed a set of core principles to guide global efforts toward ensuring soil security. We advocate for the design and implementation of effective policies and laws that engage diverse communities through a collaborative governance model, fostering the connection between people and soil. We encourage every nation to adopt comprehensive soil strategies that recognize and harness the myriad benefits of soil for humanity and the planet. Such strategies should incorporate incentive-based approaches that encourage positive actions for sustainable soil management and usage.
As participants in the first Global Soil Security Summit, we issue this declaration—a global call to action. We urge governments, legislatures, scientists, businesses, and citizens worldwide to join forces in the vital effort to secure our soils. We aim to promote the recognition, protection, and sustainable management of soil resources.
The University of Sydney, Thursday, October 17 , 2024
Policy Principles
The second document is a powerful set of policy guidelines, offering nations a framework for creating effective and sustainable soil policies
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