Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) MRV Sourcebook for Agricultural Landscapes

The Sourcebook is designed to provide a conceptual foundation for soil organic carbon measurement and monitoring in croplands and grazing lands or rangelands. It provides methods and simple step-by-step guidance to produce reliable soil carbon measurements across a variety of settings and contexts, with comparisons on what frameworks, approaches, or methods to choose relative to the goal of the assessment, costs, feasibility, and uncertainty.

Audience

The Sourcebook is intended to serve as a guide for agricultural practitioners and climate change professionals at local, regional, or national scales seeking to leverage the potential of healthy soils to decarbonize the economy, help countries meet their climate targets, and invest in climate-smart agriculture initiatives

Contents

• Chapter 1: introduces soil carbon and the agricultural practices that enhance carbon stocks.
• Chapter 2: presents an overview of how users should select a soil carbon assessment methodology.
• Chapter 3: is split into modules providing detailed guidance on the decision points related to designing and implementing a soil carbon assessment system.
• Chapter 4: Putting the guidance of the Sourcebook into practice.

Acknowledgement

The development of this report was led by the World Bank and prepared by experts from Winrock International and Colorado State University. The World Bank team responsible for this report was led by Timila Dhakhwa and Nkulumo Zinyengere with support from Bethany Linton, under the guidance of Erick C. M. Fernandes and Chandra Shekhar Sinha. The Winrock International team was led by Dr. Timothy Pearson and Dr. Blanca Bernal with support from Sophia Simon and Meyru Bhanti. The Colorado State University team was led by Dr. Keith Paustian and Dr. Eleanor Milne.