On 9 June, Dr. Haijing Shi, Soil Erosion Consultant at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), visited the WASWAC Secretariat for discussions with Prof. Duihu Ning, President of WASWAC, and Prof. Baoyuan Liu, Chair of the First Technical Working Group of the International Network on Soil Erosion (INSER) and Deputy President of WASWAC.

Dr. Shi outlined the overall plans and next-step requirements for all INSER technical working groups. She expressed her hope to further expand international cooperation in soil erosion and related fields by leveraging WASWAC’s global expert network, as well as its platforms, including international conferences and its official academic journal.

Prof. Ning responded positively, affirming that WASWAC will support expert nomination, information exchange, and technical proposal assessment. He emphasized that WASWAC will collaborate with the working group to gradually refine operational frameworks and jointly advance global soil erosion mapping. Prof. Liu presented an overview of his working group alongside a clear action plan to develop monitoring systems, standardize mapping, and formulate technical specifications.

Participants agreed that the working group is currently at a critical initial stage. Priorities include streamlining operational frameworks, confirming team composition, refining task allocation, and setting timelines to ensure the steady delivery of all work. WASWAC will maintain regular contact with INSER and deepen cooperation on technical standards development, personnel training, and academic exchanges.

Prof. Pengfei Du, Executive Secretary-General of WASWAC, also attended the discussion and outlined broad plans for regular liaison and daily coordination.

The International Network on Soil Erosion (INSER) is the eighth technical network under the FAO’s Global Soil Partnership (GSP). Its establishment was endorsed by the GSP Plenary Assembly in June 2025, and it was officially launched at the 6th WASWAC World Conference in September of the same year. INSER brings together research institutions and policy bodies worldwide to advance soil erosion monitoring and assessment, promote conservation technologies, quantify economic values, and improve policy frameworks, thereby underpinning global food security and ecological security with science. At its first working meeting in April 2026, INSER elected its Chair and the Chairs of three technical working groups. Prof. Baoyuan Liu and Prof. Fei Wang, both Deputy Presidents of WASWAC, were elected Chairs of the first and third groups, respectively. They lead the work on Measuring, Modelling, and Mapping, and Economic Valuation, Legislation, and Policy.