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

attention at an early date. Advisors will have their greatest
effect on land management if they encourage the self-help
groups to identify their own problems and to "own the
solution^^^. This can be best achieved by evaluating causes
and alternative solutions through vigorous and open group
dynamics in which a majority of landholders are involved. In
this way, land care, soil erosion and loss of fauna and flora
will hopefully no longer be regarded as the government's
problems waiting for the government's action.
Confusion on Sustainable Land Use
Predictably the rapidly emerging new approaches have led to
uncertainty and insecurity on the part of those in leadership
roles in producer groups, extension services, research
organizations and educational institutions. The way to
overcome the present tentative stance is to begin by
discussing goals and objectives, in an effort to reach
agreement on the targets of land care as a nation-wide
movement of potentially immense significance. What are we
trying to do? Who are the players? What are their roles?
These are the questions that need to be seriously addressed
within the concept of "~ustainability~~ as the guiding
principle.
The author has long grappled with the bewildering complexities
of the large number of inter-related factors which contribute
to sustainable rural production and llecological healthu of
Australia's country districts. The result of what Odum has
termed "the struggle for perspectivew, can be stated in simple
tabular form as shown in Table 1, The Elements of Sustainable
Agriculture (Roberts, 1989) . In essence the four factors in
the right hand column are the targets which managers should
aim at, whatever their production system. These can be
achieved by a variety of practical methods on the property.
It is suggested that if these four requirements are met, the
system will be sustainable. Initially, it is not necessary to
quantify in any precise way, the acceptable level of
achievement within each criterion, provided the direction and
trend is positive. Specious arguments about what is
sustainable, become irrelevant in this initial stage of
improving land management.
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 "barev1 statements.
Consideration of how each of the four target criteria can be
achieved indicates how tree planting, wildlife habitat and the