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

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an Land Degrad By Brian Roberts The Australian continent is unusually susceptible to erosion and salinization problems. Historically the removal of trees on a vast scale has significantly altered runoff patterns. The implementation of land-use plans and conservation farming forms the basis of a national soil-conservation program and is complemented by a national awareness campaign to control Australia's prime environmental problem. INTRODUCTION The vast continent of Australia, comprising 7.7 million km'. and originally called the "Great Southland" by ancient rnariners. covers 33" of latitude and includes a diversity of ecosystems from deserts to rain forests and coral reefs. The biological diversity and the fragility of the natural habitats and their communities are unique to this ancient and highly eroded landscape. The land has been occupied by aboriginal tribes for more than 30000 years. Their hunter-gatherer society had little effect on the ecosystems that they were part of. Apart from the use of fire for hunting and food-gathering, their activities were con- fined to collecting fruit. roots and nuts. fishing and the hunting of marsupials and birds. The arrival of the European settlers in 1788 brought steel axes and saws. gunpowder. draught animals and hard-hoofed cattle and sheep on to the continent. Technology brought water bores and windmills. which eliminated forever nature's control of animal populations by drought and water supply. Early settlement of Australia started on the central east coast. Occupation spread south, north and west from present-day Sydney, then to South Australia and Western Australia. Current population density figures (Figure 1) show that much of in- Figure 1. Distribution of the human population showing concentrated settlement in the eastern and southwestern districts of Australia (1). land and northern Australia remains sparsely populated. Predictably. most of the environmental issues that have received attention in the past concern land. water and atmospheric conditions in the more heavily populated eastern seaboard districts. In more recent times concern for remote wilderness areas in Tasmania, the Northern Territory and North Qut.cnslarid has grown and unique sites In these areas have been included in the World Heritage List. Since grazing and cultivation cover twothirds of Australia's land-surface area. the causes of accelerated water and-wind rrosion can easily be traced to the rural pursuits of landholders. However. it should be emphasized that this ancient land has always been prone to natural eroslon. Susceptibility of the natural land surface to erosion results from the combined effects of prolonged droughts and the consequent reduction in protective ground cover vegetation. The arid climate and the resultant sparse grass cover are additional factors in the vast inland area of the country. The natural instiibility .and fragility of many of the arid ecosystems requires a careful control of stocking rates of cattle and sheep in the vast pastoral zones of the inland. The inherent carryins c:ipi~cit!. I\ low for the main Legetation 4pinitcx (Triodin spp.). .\-l~[chell grw (,.l.srrt~t)lrr spp. ), salt bush (r\rrr/)lt~.r n\ Illrrrtr~z(l 4pp. ) and rnulra (ACNCI~I I I I I C ~ L I ~ ~ I ) . I3ehpik en~otl~e drfenw ot the knngiiroo ~x>piil;~tion. t here 14 :1111plt' t'\ itienc.~ that thesc :~nimal~ \t ill conttnue to coritribute to thc o\ ergr;tang prol,leni ~ I ~ I I L ~ \ \ their rii~rnhers art. conrrollcd 1,) hooti in^ ,i \~gnific:~nt proportl~~ri 1)f ttic ,rnni~;~l !=..irl- garoo-~)opuli~t~o~~ Incrc,iw I'hc ionst.r\ :Itiori lobby in Aubtralia and ovrrxaa is apparently unaware of a number of fundnmental facts about the kangaroo populution. Firstly. the creation of permanent drinking water through artesian bores and surface dams has greatly increased the population of red and prey kangaroos. Secondly. the unnatural increases in kangaroo populations, especially in years of abundant feed. make it impossible for conservation-minded praziers to release paddocks used for domestic stock grazing for the purpose of rehabilitating degraded grazing land. Thirdly. if kangaroo shooting is outlawed. pastoralists will lose out to the kangaroos and will then have no alternative hut to shut off the water wppliss. This will cause an almost total '~nnlh~lation of the k;~nparoo population In 311 :mas sscept the limited zones 5sr1t.J b> permilnent natural waterholes in the ar~d inland.
Severe salinization in Victoria. Photo: Victorian Government. In short. there can be no conservation of the inland without kangaroo control. ENVIRONMENT AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT In essence. the ~u-econom). has "own out of priemuction-first hooi and timber. th-t and sugar. Jlore recently minerals such as iron ore. coal and copper have become prime export-earners. Because of the ratio of population to resources, almost SO percent of primary production is exported. with rural industries and mining contributing equal shares. The percentages of the total land area ~lllocated to each land use are shown in Figure 2. The effects of each land use on land stability and production potential are greatest under the more intensive forms of land use. e.g. cropping (6.1 percent of "eri 1. Forestry and nature cunssrvation constityte 5.5 percent of Austrrllia's land m a and new reserves are being pro- 'I;li~licd ;~nnu;llly( 2). Tile ferlcr:ll sovertiment h;ls attempted to cie\clop basis for rtieeting the needs of !'!:!I1 CCOIIOII~~C rlevelopment :lad environn::!~ t.11 co~~scrv;~tiori. Tlic N;~tiori;lI Ctm- \cl\ ~itlrbrl St r,~tcgy ( NC'S) ainia to estnblisil Figure 2. Percentages of the total Australian land area used for various purposes (5). transport l.ZO/O ,- forestry 2.0% nature conservation 3.5% urban 0.1% / intensive cropping 0.3%
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SOUL CObJSERVATION PEOPLE, RELIGION
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with " Generous sod", Dennis displa
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Stewardship - What Is It? Stewartls
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the earth's resources. However, it
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Certainly the earth and thus man, w
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That each Church set up a commissio
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LET THE RED VAN SPEAK In 1854 "the
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WHAT SHOULD WE TEACH What must the
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established a dualism of man and na
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R IBLIOGRAPHY Anonymous. 1985. Stat
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PREFACE : This paper has been writt
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vital supplies. The once-heroic pio
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to land use decision-making which t
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a approach for Australia. The dange
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As Ashby points out past experience
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exclusive right to use the land, ne
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matter. They certainly don't do tha
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a constraint on our freedom of acti
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and every individual creature and t
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Christians was noted. Both display
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Nature's Harmonies'. As David Lowen
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key phrases in Genesis are: "Have d
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Can Values and ~thics be Taught? Pl
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"The university's job may not be th
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coming generations. The list below
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National goals should change as pro
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indicators can continue to progress
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the problems of the present. It sho
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Cook, E. 1970. Environmental Ethics
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Santmire, H. P. 1970. Brother Earth
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--- - - - - - I. ORGANISATION AND I
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7' - - F a - - present parties, hav
Page 77 and 78: 5. Res~onsibilitv of Faculties of A
Page 79 and 80: A -- 15. Role of Urban-Based conser
Page 81: FEDERAL STATE LOCAL EDUCATION l N C
Page 87 and 88: - - --< -- - I. ORGANISATION AND IN
Page 89 and 90: present parties, have failed to con
Page 91 and 92: Responsibilitv of Faculties of Agri
Page 93 and 94: 15. Role of Urban-Based Conservatio
Page 95: FEDERAL STATE LOCAL EXTENSION LANDH
Page 102 and 103: government. In this way the long-st
Page 104 and 105: on a permanent basis. 8. -Role -- -
Page 106 and 107: %==. 10. Wider Use of Group Methods
Page 108: N0113V UOJ S31V3S3Lnlll QNV S13A31
Page 113 and 114: 11. In Queensland, about 40% of nat
Page 118 and 119: Earth Garden, May 1 986 speak or th
Page 120 and 121: combines very small holdings with s
Page 122 and 123: The stages of cultural and ecologic
Page 124 and 125: The role of trees in controlling so
Page 126 and 127: proportions,. - _ 6. We must bring-
Page 132 and 133: principles ror de~elopment In \uch
Page 134: Exposed clay subsoil following seve
Page 139 and 140: evide~~c-to indicate that this situ
Page 141 and 142: the field and the proportion of exi
Page 146 and 147: A.I.A.S. Symp. 20/10/89 EFFECTIVE G
Page 148 and 149: These figures exclude the contribut
Page 150 and 151: these four requirements are met, th
Page 152 and 153: the association of the group with a
Page 154 and 155: A rational analysis should be made
Page 156: REFERENCES Anonymous. (1978). Basis
Page 159 and 160: APPENDIX 2 ELEMENTS OF A SHIRE LAND
Page 164 and 165: ' I a -I how T'S NEW IN LAND C CTS
Page 166: and tresspassers, rather than as cr
Page 171 and 172: The Present Position . - - - ~r&e&t
Page 173 and 174: on Objectives - - -- - - ----=:I .
Page 175 and 176: APPENDIX 2 * 1. clear goals which a
Page 177 and 178: .A- 7. Planninq -- - -,sip - proble
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Brian Roberts, DDIAE 1989 Farm plan
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farm plan or major changes in physi
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Cover Story LAND STE ARDSH udes Tow
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individual's rights. No individual
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B R Roberts Darling Downs Institute
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attention at an early date. Advisor
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TABLE 1 1 LE AGRICULTURE 1. LAND CA
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th~should be ol t1[;11 c.onc-crn to
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which could form the cornerstone of
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CLEARING: WHO SHOULD DECIDE? Brian
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. Who has the knowledge and informa
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Range Monitoring Workshop Nat. S.C.
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Because most of the pastoral zone i
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FIGURE 1 iabifity ratings for Austr
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environment as distinct from the ef
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will be referred to later. It is de
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~ield workers are agreed that the i
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consumed in good and poor seasons r
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sufficiently to meet the criteria a
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Roberts, B. (1986). Proc. Sec. Int.
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The second reality is that in some
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choices of cultivation practices ar
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For those roads that are parallel t
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Role of Trees in the Property Plan
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