About Us
Who we are
The Global Soil Biodiversity Initiative (the GSBI) is an international, not-for-profit organization advancing the protection of soil biodiversity through science, policy, and practice.
We bring together scientists, practitioners, policymakers, organizations, and communities working to understand and protect the diversity of life in soils.
The GSBI was established to create a global platform for collaboration and to strengthen the connection between soil biodiversity science and action. We work across disciplines, ecosystems, organisms, and geographic regions to build knowledge, advance monitoring, inform policy, and support practical approaches to soil biodiversity conservation.
Our goal is simple: to ensure that soil biodiversity is recognized, understood, monitored, and protected as an essential component of healthy ecosystems and a resilient planet.
What we do
The GSBI provides a global platform for collaboration and action. We work to:
Build and connect knowledge about soil biodiversity and its roles in ecosystems.
Advance monitoring and indicators that enable us to understand and track changes in soil biodiversity.
Bring soil biodiversity into policy and implementation, including biodiversity, restoration, climate, agriculture, and land-management frameworks.
Strengthen global capacity and collaboration, particularly by connecting researchers and practitioners across regions, disciplines, and career stages.
Our Strategic Priorities
Global Knowledge InfrastructureDevelop and support globally coordinated soil biodiversity knowledge systems through synthesis, assessment, open-data integration, and international collaboration.
Monitoring and IndicatorsAdvance harmonized approaches for measuring and monitoring soil biodiversity across ecosystems and scales.
Policy and ImplementationSupport the integration of soil biodiversity into biodiversity, restoration, climate, agriculture, and land-management frameworks.
Capacity and Global CollaborationStrengthen international participation, knowledge exchange, and inclusive collaboration across scientific and implementation communities.
How we work
The GSBI is a global network and convening platform.
We work through collaboration rather than duplication. We connect expertise, initiatives, datasets, methods, and organizations to help advance shared priorities for soil biodiversity.
We are committed to open science, international collaboration, scientific independence, and inclusive participation. We seek to build connections across regions and disciplines and to ensure that knowledge generated through soil biodiversity research can contribute to policy and practice.
Soil biodiversity is fundamental to life on Earth, yet much of it remains unknown, unmonitored, and unprotected.
Addressing this gap requires more than individual research projects. It requires global collaboration, shared knowledge, effective observation, meaningful indicators, and a stronger connection between science and decision-making.
Our Organization
The GSBI is a Canadian federally incorporated not-for-profit organization with a global scientific and professional network. Its work is guided by scientific expertise and international collaboration.