Good soil quality is of fundamental importance to both local and global food production and to ecosystem resilience. Agricultural soils world-wide are subject to threats and pressures including: increasing demand for food and biofuels, changing diets, land degradation and associated productivity decline, all made worse by climate change. Reliable knowledge and data help land users assess their soils and make well-informed decisions about its use. When information on alternative land use practices is easily available, it supports farmers in improving their land management.