The UNCCD-SPI technical report “Realising the Carbon Benefits of Sustainable Land Management Practices: Guidelines for Estimation of Soil Organic Carbon in the Context of Land Degradation” provides decision guidance for the estimation of soil organic carbon (SOC) in support of appropriate deployment of sustainable land management (SLM) technologies, in order to maintain or increase carbon in the soil and contribute to the achievement of land degradation neutrality (LDN). The report was produced to support the need for policy tools that provide guidance on harmonized methods for accurate estimations of changes in soil (SOC) stocks resulting from SLM interventions.

The report provides a framework and a set of decision trees to help countries i) identify suitable and region-specific SLM practices and approaches to maintain or enhance SOC stocks, and ii) estimate and monitor SOC for land use planning and for monitoring LDN. It also provides a comparative list of tools and models for SOC assessment and selection for SLM approaches and technologies, including approaches for monitoring changes in SOC stocks from local to national scales.

Policy-oriented options include to (i) share the guidance for land managers at the appropriate level; (ii) monitor SOC change as an indicator of SLM intervention to support assessment of LDN achievement in 2030; (iii) apply gender-responsive actions addressing gender-based differences and promote gender equality and women’s empowerment; (iv) design a framework for LDN Planning and means to support it.