soil-conservation-people-religion-and-land.pdf - South West NRM

present parties, have failed to control land degradation and
unsound land use developments.
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~0th;---faera1 and state governments should formulate and
implement legislation to ensure that good agricultural land is
3. Clearins Unsuitable Land
Nation-wide initiatives are urgently required to formulate and
implement regulations which prevent further clearing of land
which is predictably prone to loss of productivity through
erosion, salinity or land slip.
4. Relative Economic Priorities of Irriaation and Soil
Conservation
Federal and state governments should recognise the extent and
urgency of land degradation when determining priorities for
allocation of funds. The accumulating costs of controlling
advanced erosion and salinity emphasize the need for widespread
early action in preventing degradation. Funds should be
diverted from planned irrigation schemes and other non-essatial
expenditure, to support land use planning, catchment projects
and soil conservation on individual farms for a period of 20
years.
5. Contribution of ~rofessional societies and Other Groups
Those societies and bodies whose members have a special
knowledge of land, rural production and the environment should
give special attention to contributing to corrective action in
the sphere of land degradation. The focus of society activity
should reflect both the recoqnition of the time factor in land
stabilisation and the respon;ibility of societies with in-depth
knowledge of land use to become actively involved on all fronts
to problem-solving in this sphere.
6.
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ways-=means should be found to bring together the alleviation
of two of Australia's most pressing problems - unemployment and
land stabilisation. Imaginative programmes based on the land
army concept could produce lasting benefits in both spheres of
endeavour through cooperative planning between the departments
concerned.
7. Tree-Plantins Within Coordinated Catchment Plans
Community tree planting activities should be encouraged by
appropriate funding arrangements administered through soil ,
conservation planning authorities. In this way the increasing
community commitment to tree planting can be directed toward
effective coordinated control of erosion, salinity and land slip