Programme tackles soil and land issues. In particular, in Germany, there exists the
Soil Protection Act which concentrates more “on the restoration of existing brown
fields”.
67 Nonetheless, a lot of other land and soil-related regulations are scattered in
other various acts and ordinances.
Similarly, a conference on soil governance was held in Brasilia in March 2015.
The Brazilian Federal Court of Accounts (TCU) is empowered by the constitution to
conduct a performance audit on non-urban soil and land governance. The audit was
able to examine the risk facing the natural heritage and identified the damage it has
suffered. TCU has touched five of the SDGs. Goal 15 of the SDGs recognised the
crisis facing soils all over the world when it stated that “. . .protect, restore and
promote the sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage the forest,
combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation, halt biodiversity loss.”
68 It
was also proved that Brazil does not have a specific soil policy.
From the African point of view, the continent needs “a synergistic, pragmatic and
adaptive approach if we are to halt, reverse and address the issue of soil degradation.”
69 In Namibia, the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry (MAWF) is
saddled with the responsibility of soil management, promotion and development of
sustainable soil management practices in agriculture, water and forestry sectors
through appropriate policy and legal instruments. The Namibian policies encourage
inclusiveness which has resulted in increased food production. Despite some challenges in the process of land redistribution, there is a comprehensive framework for
the reform of land tenure, acquisition and ownership.
70 From the foregoing, Namibia
seems to be among the nations that are responsive to the promotion of sustainable
land use.
Although there are pockets of provisions relating to soil embedded in some
national and international instruments, there is an ongoing advocacy on a fair deal
for soil sustainability similar to the biodiversity loss, climate change, and food
security legal frameworks.
71
Apparently, the level of consideration accorded these phenomena is heartwarming, despite the fact that soil protection is an essential factor to the success of
such considerations due to the bond it shares with the other three. The 2015 Soil
Atlas asserts that all the more than 200 internal treaties, agreements and protocols
neglect soil conservation and fail to define specific targets. This is not an encouraging development if the world truly desires to overcome resultant effects of soil
degradation. The disregard for soil protection is the cause of many of the world’s
current predicaments. The situation in Nigeria mentioned in the previous section is
just the tip of the iceberg. There are issues of traditional notions of land ownership,
particularly whether native laws and customs ‘abhor alienation’ of land, widespread
67 Ginzky et al. (2016).
68 Ginzky et al. (2016).
69 Ginzky et al. (2016).
70 Ginzky et al. (2016).
71 Boer and Hannam (2015).
Soil Governance and Sustainable Land Use System in Nigeria: The Paradox of. . .
175
Soil Protection Act which concentrates more “on the restoration of existing brown
fields”.
67 Nonetheless, a lot of other land and soil-related regulations are scattered in
other various acts and ordinances.
Similarly, a conference on soil governance was held in Brasilia in March 2015.
The Brazilian Federal Court of Accounts (TCU) is empowered by the constitution to
conduct a performance audit on non-urban soil and land governance. The audit was
able to examine the risk facing the natural heritage and identified the damage it has
suffered. TCU has touched five of the SDGs. Goal 15 of the SDGs recognised the
crisis facing soils all over the world when it stated that “. . .protect, restore and
promote the sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage the forest,
combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation, halt biodiversity loss.”
68 It
was also proved that Brazil does not have a specific soil policy.
From the African point of view, the continent needs “a synergistic, pragmatic and
adaptive approach if we are to halt, reverse and address the issue of soil degradation.”
69 In Namibia, the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry (MAWF) is
saddled with the responsibility of soil management, promotion and development of
sustainable soil management practices in agriculture, water and forestry sectors
through appropriate policy and legal instruments. The Namibian policies encourage
inclusiveness which has resulted in increased food production. Despite some challenges in the process of land redistribution, there is a comprehensive framework for
the reform of land tenure, acquisition and ownership.
70 From the foregoing, Namibia
seems to be among the nations that are responsive to the promotion of sustainable
land use.
Although there are pockets of provisions relating to soil embedded in some
national and international instruments, there is an ongoing advocacy on a fair deal
for soil sustainability similar to the biodiversity loss, climate change, and food
security legal frameworks.
71
Apparently, the level of consideration accorded these phenomena is heartwarming, despite the fact that soil protection is an essential factor to the success of
such considerations due to the bond it shares with the other three. The 2015 Soil
Atlas asserts that all the more than 200 internal treaties, agreements and protocols
neglect soil conservation and fail to define specific targets. This is not an encouraging development if the world truly desires to overcome resultant effects of soil
degradation. The disregard for soil protection is the cause of many of the world’s
current predicaments. The situation in Nigeria mentioned in the previous section is
just the tip of the iceberg. There are issues of traditional notions of land ownership,
particularly whether native laws and customs ‘abhor alienation’ of land, widespread
67 Ginzky et al. (2016).
68 Ginzky et al. (2016).
69 Ginzky et al. (2016).
70 Ginzky et al. (2016).
71 Boer and Hannam (2015).
Soil Governance and Sustainable Land Use System in Nigeria: The Paradox of. . .
175