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

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these four requirements are met, the system will be sustainable. Initially, it is not necessary to puantify in any precise way, the acceptable level of achievement within each criterion, provided the direction and trend is positive. It is suggested that these four targets are unlikely to be met unless the initial decisions on land capability (in the left hand column) are made correctly in the first place. These concern the fundamental issues of suitable slopes, clearing and carrying capacity. The central column of the table represents the elements of the socio-political framework required for acceptance and implementation of permanent production systems. The "ifs and buts" arising from any attempt to crystalize thinking about a complex situation, must of necessity lead to qualifications and additions to the "barew statements. Consideration of how each of the four target criteria can be achieved indicates how tree planting, wildlife habitat and the use of fire are incorporated as building blocks of balanced land use programmes. COMMITTEE ACTION The writer has been active in the encouragement and establishment of many local committees and has followed their progress with intense interest. Everyone agrees that setting up the committee is the easy part - the difficult part is maintaining enthusiastic action within priority directions' agreed by the group concerned. Our group, the Toowoomba Erosion Awareness Movement, has consistently emphasized the complimentary roles of education, incentives and regulations - in that order, as the three pillars of sound land management (Roberts 1987). Despite the progress made in recent years, it must be stated that there are still severe shortcomings in all three spheres, although the diverse and comprehensive range of educational materials funded by the National Soil Conservation Programme since 1983 has given the awareness campaign a significant boost in most States. ~roup-learning in practical settings is now what is required on a vast scale. Committees will continue to have difficulty persuading many individuals that the available incentives are meaningful in thei~particular financial situation. The whole issue of who benefits from, and who pays for, land care now becomes the major issue for the Decade of Soil Conservation. It remains a basic truism (Roberts 1985) that if the community at large regards the landholder as the steward of the nation's soil resources, then the community should also ensure that the landholder is given the financial support required to carry out this vital stewardship role. This is the central land care issue requiring political realism and statesmanship in the 1990s. Neither positive attitudes through education, nor regulatory guidelines alone, can bring about sustainable rural production systems, if the manager and his family have to sacrifice individual benefit for the sake of "the common good" .
Contrary to popular belief, there is a place for regulations in the framework within which land care committees must. function. While the very notion of land use controls cuts across many independently-minded landholdersu principles, as a final (and hopefully little-used) factor in land use policy, enforcable guidelines may be required where the majority are being prevented from achieving common unity goals, by uncooperative individuals. This principle already applies across much of our democracy and its legal system and has long been accepted in the zoning of local areas for particular uses (Roberts 1986a). The connotations of names such as Land Management, Land Utilization, Land Care and Soil Conservation, as applied to local landholder groups, have an important imagery for both members and outsiders. For this reason the choice of name and more importantly, the careful wording of objectives, are important starting points for local action. The identity and community image of the group are essential prerequisites to local commitment. In turn, the preparation of meaningful projects and action plans are essential to achieving objectives and to maintaining involvement. After meeting with members of approximately 40 district soil conservation committees in Western Australia a set of common elements of success was identified by the writer. The differences between more successful and less successful committees are reflected in the list presented in Appendix 1. While appropriate leadership is necessary, the development of a sequential plan of action is an essential early step in gaining commitment and maintaining the momentum of individual involvement. Such a plan of action can take many forms and the writer has found a circular diagram of the following type to be useful: on Objectives stat far 2 State Prdblem - . 3 Evaluate Alternatives - ' Evaluate Aesults 7 - - 4 Select Best Solution - Irrplement Plan 6 An example of guidelines set up for a Queensland pastoral group is shown in Appendix 2, in which an effort is made to use the interest and experience of individuals with special knowledge of particular problems and solutions by establishing subprojects with subcommittees of personal choice. The nonsectional character of the group is also important in avoiding
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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
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5. Res~onsibilitv of Faculties of A
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A -- 15. Role of Urban-Based conser
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FEDERAL STATE LOCAL EDUCATION l N C
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- - --< -- - I. ORGANISATION AND IN
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present parties, have failed to con
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Responsibilitv of Faculties of Agri
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15. Role of Urban-Based Conservatio
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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 130 and 131: an Land Degrad By Brian Roberts The
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 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
Page 182 and 183: Brian Roberts, DDIAE 1989 Farm plan
Page 184 and 185: farm plan or major changes in physi
Page 188 and 189: Cover Story LAND STE ARDSH udes Tow
Page 190 and 191: individual's rights. No individual
Page 192 and 193: B R Roberts Darling Downs Institute
Page 194 and 195: attention at an early date. Advisor
Page 196: 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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