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Landcare and Rehabilitation
Soil erosion, dryland salinity, exotic weeds, soil nutrient
decline and other forms of land degradation cost Australian
farmers millions of dollars every year in lost productivity.
The cost to the wider community in terms of reduced water
quality, damage to infrastructure and the loss of our natural
heritage is impossible to estimate. Strategic revegetation
of deep rooted perennial trees and shrubs is commonly seen
as the most cost effective means of controlling land degradation
at its source and restricting its spread.
The key to using revegetation to combat land degradation lies
in understanding the processes that cause and increase the
problem. This provides a basis for determining how trees and
shrubs might be used to halt or slow the process. For example,
wind erosion can only occur on a ploughed field if the force
of the wind is sufficient to detach and carry soil particles.
Soil type and clod size, soil moisture, width of the ploughed
field and wind speed are all important factors in the process
of wind erosion. By understanding how trees reduce wind speed,
farmers may be able to design a shelterbelt network across
their farmland that can virtually eliminate the risk of wind
erosion while minimising the impact of trees on agricultural
productivity.
Soil Erosion By Wind
And Water
Waterlogging
And Salinity
Planting Trees
to Reduce Waterlogging & Salinity
Soil Compaction And
Nutrient Decline
Water Quality in
Waterways and Streams
Buffer Strips
for Nutrient Trapping
Effluent Plantations
Planting Trees
to Reduce the Impact of Pests
Planting Trees
to Reduce the Spread of Weeds
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