On September 10, 2020, the Ministry of Agriculture of Latvia presented LIFE OrgBalt project at 7th European Soil Partnership Plenary Assembly emphasizing to the international auditory of the assembly the projects’ geographically wide scope and importance – LIFE OrgBalt research results on nutrient-rich organic soils will be relevant and applicable in all Europe.

The plenary took place online gathering European Soil Partnership national focal points and partners. In presentation on actual soil research projects Ministry of Agriculture of Latvia presented LIFE OrgBalt objectives and significance of expected results. Organic soils provide ~ 10% of all value added in Latvian agriculture, while make significant part or agricultural emissions in Latvia – around 30 %. LIFE OrgBalt will elaborate greenhouse gas emission factors for nutrient-rich organic soils to provide scientifically sound knowledge on the accurate emission amounts for policy planners.

Presentation available: HERE.

Agenda of the Plenary Assembly available: HERE.

All presentations of the Plenary Assembly available: HERE.

The European Soil Partnership (ESP) is mechanism established by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in 2013 and its aim is to bring all networks and soil related activities under a common framework to promote sustainable soil management in Europe. Its Secretariat is hosted at the European Commission DG JRC in Ispra, Italy. ESP is open to institutions and stakeholders willing to actively contribute to sustainable soil management in Europe. Following countries are represented at ESP: Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom.

About LIFE OrgBalt

The LIFE OrgBalt project aims to improve the GHG reporting data (activity data and emission factors) for nutrient-rich organic soils. Furthermore, the project aims to identify and to demonstrate sustainable, resilient, and cost-effective climate change mitigation measures applicable in nutrient-rich organic soils and to provide tools and guidance for the elaboration, implementation, and verification of the results of climate change mitigation policies.

The project is implemented by eight partners from five EU Member States – Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Finland and Germany and unites representatives from public administration institutions, and scientific and non-governmental organizations. The leading partner, Latvian State Forest Research Institute “Silava” implements the project in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Latvia, the Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies, the University of Tartu (Estonia), the Natural Resources Institute Finland LUKE, the Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry, the Michael Succow Foundation (Germany) and the Association Baltic Coasts (Latvia).