Aroura – The Soil and Soil Security Think Tank

Quentin Styc^1*Sandra J Evangelista²David Watt²Penelope Wensley^3,4,5Irene Heuser⁶Julio César Pachón Maldonado²Julia Feeth²Nicolas Francos²ANILKUMAR HUNAKUNTI²Thilini Jayasekara²Pasquale Borrelli^7,8Damien Field²Daniel Irving²Budiman Minasny²Fatima Moreira⁹Cristine L. S. Morgan^10,11Wartini Ng²Thomas O'donoghue²Mercedes Román Dobarco¹²Amin Sharififar²Mara Thiene^13,14Liesl Wiese¹⁵Jae E Yang¹⁶Alex B McBratney²

• ¹The University of Sydney, Darlington, Australia
• ²The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
• ³Former National Soil Advocate, Canberra, Australia
• ⁴Global Soil Partnership, Rome, Italy
• ⁵Coalition of Action 4 Soil Health (CA4SH), Nairobi, Kenya
• ⁶IUCN Environmental Law Centre, Bonn, Germany
• ⁷Universita degli Studi Roma Tre Dipartimento di Scienze, Rome, Italy
• ⁸Universitat Basel, Basel, Switzerland
• ⁹Universidade Federal de Lavras, Lavras, Brazil
• ¹⁰Soil Health Institute, Morrisville, United States
• ¹¹Texas A&M University, College Station, United States
• ¹²NEIKER-Basque Institute for Agricultural Research and Development, Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), Parque Científico y Tecnológico de Bizkaia, Derio, Basque Country, Spain
• ¹³Universita degli Studi di Padova, Padua, Italy
• ¹⁴The University of Sydney School of Economics, Sydney, Australia
• ¹⁵Soil Initiative For Africa, Cape Town, South Africa
• ¹⁶Kangwon National University, Kangwon, Republic of Korea

Soil, a fundamental resource for life on Earth, has faced increasing degradation, particularly over the past century, with its ability to support ecosystems and human well-being rapidly deteriorating. Despite its critical role, soil remains largely neglected in global policy agendas. In response to this urgent issue, Aroura – the Soil and Soil Security Think Tank was established to raise soil security to the forefront of global priorities. The Think Tank unites a wide range of experts from fields such as politics, law, economics, and soil science, working together to address the global need for sustainable soil management. Soil is deeply interconnected with all of Earth's life-supporting systems, playing a vital role in solving major global challenges, including biodiversity preservation, climate change mitigation, food and water security, and human well-being. Effective soil management can be both a challenge and a solution, depending on the approach taken. To guide effective soil management, Aroura promotes the Soil Security Assessment Framework, which includes not only the biophysical aspects of soil but also its socio-economic, cultural, and political dimensions. The Think Tank was launched in 2024, following a Global Soil Security Summit in Sydney, Australia, attended by invited experts from six continents. The Summit participants created and signed a Soil Security Declaration and established a set of Soil Policy Principles to help shape global policies on soil. Aroura's objectives are to: (i) raise awareness of the importance of soil and the need to take urgent action to assure soil security, (ii) foster cross-disciplinary collaboration and (iii) advocate for evidence-based policies and laws to ensure sustainable soil management. By securing soil, Aroura aims to safeguard life itself, ensuring a resilient, thriving planet for both current and future generations.