Abstract

A major challenge in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) is to determine how to meet the ever-growing global needs for food while preserving natural ecosystems and contributing to climate change mitigation. In the region, continuing land use is occurring and has caused a significant soil organic carbon (SOC) loss. We estimated the SOC reduction in three representative ecosystems of the region: forests (4.21 petagrams of carbon, Pg C, over 30 years), grasslands (1.86−7.32 Pg C, over different periods) and mangroves (0.36 Pg C over 25 years). Increasing SOC stocks in agricultural lands can help to mitigate the SOC loss due to land use change, but multiple factors influence the dynamics and response of the agricultural production and carbon sequestration. Farmers are pivotal actors that contribute to food production and could maintain SOC stocks; however, incentives or fair compensation must be considered to enable this. Moreover, national, and continental policies are needed for land restoration and sustainable management of soil health as a living entity through adoption of nature-positive practices which enhance soil organic matter (SOM) stocks, increase use-efficiency of inputs, and lead to nutrition-sensitive agriculture.

摘要

拉丁美洲和加勒比地区 (LAC) 面临的一个主要挑战是确定如何满足全球不断增长的粮食需求，同时保护自然生态系统并为减缓气候变化做出贡献。在该地区，持续的土地使用正在发生，并导致土壤有机碳 (SOC) 大量流失。我们估算了该地区三个代表性生态系统的 SOC 减少量：森林（4.21 拍克碳，Pg C，30 年以上）、草地（1.86-7.32 Pg C，不同时期）和红树林（25 年以上 0.36 Pg C） . 增加农业用地的 SOC 存量有助于减轻因土地利用变化造成的 SOC 损失，但多种因素会影响农业生产和碳封存的动态和响应。农民是促进粮食生产并可以维持 SOC 库存的关键参与者；然而，必须考虑奖励或公平补偿来实现这一点。此外，需要国家和大陆政策，通过采用有利于自然的做法，增强土壤有机质 (SOM) 储量，提高投入物的使用效率，并导致营养-敏感农业。