members.westnet
signals emanating from the bush
This is taken from correspondence with a senior person of CALM: May
2002:
Disclaimer:
'Communicating' is still not one of my strong points, so please accept this
rather lengthy open and honest statement in the spirit in which it is intended:
To improve relationships between those working at the grass-roots, and those
working behind desks at administrative and political leadership levels. It is
another attempt to bring focus to our common need to effectively address Australia's
energy crisis.
(This dialogue began with what seems to have been a misunderstanding
on my part: I incorrectly suspected CALM of hindering research on Kachana. I
stand corrected and I apologise to CALM and in particular to the individual
involved. I now hope the incident will help contribute to more desirable
outcomes. I use this opportunity to hopefully enhance a local debate that in its
importance outranks personal egos and retirement plans, inter & intra
department frictions, or party politics and the interests of minority groups.
As long as we embrace democracy, any issue regarding the management
of natural resources or the expenditure of taxpayer earnings are "public
property", therefore the debate of such issues needs to be inclusive rather
than exclusive.
To avoid distraction I have omitted some names. Much of this is
taken from a letter directed to a particular senior person in CALM. It could
however be directed at many other individuals in similar positions.
Chris H. 22.05.2002)
From that
letter:
...judging
by the feed-back which was/is very slow in coming forth, you were not the only
one who "misinterpreted" Allan Savory's message (root cause of current
desertification, the reversal of desertification, soil-building, enhancing
rainfall effectiveness, managing our resources holistically and empowering the
people who directly depend on them do get on with the job, and a whole lot more
in too short a time frame....). The event in May 2001 was staged at great
expense to private individuals. http://www.abc.net.au/landline/stories/s308791.htm;
see the report on:
http://www.westnet.com.au/satlink/KACHANA-WORKSHOP/Allan%20Savory%20Kimberley%202001.pdf
It
is crucial therefore that the people who account for the placement and
expenditure of our tax earnings not be "similarly misguided". I thank
you therefore again for the clarification in your previous e-mail and see this
as an opportunity for further clarification of issues/views/stances.
I
thank anybody who forwards this to others who attended the El Questro Forum May
2001 or to those who make time to look at the bigger picture.
With reference to previous correspondence, Kachana Pastoral Company input at the Pastoral Industry Forum in Carnarvon WA and Kachana Pastoral Company input to the Water & Rivers Commission, herewith the back-drop to the challenges we face in the Kimberley as I see it:
- We live on a planet where over six billion humans are in effect isolated from many ecological realities in their day to day decision making.
- Nations setting the pace seem to favour a materialistic (predominantly western) mindset. An opportunistic mindset that evolved over centuries in "non brittle" environments (environments where "nature" was capable of compensating for negligent human activity in a relatively short period of time.. a season to perhaps a few decades at worst); A mindset that was ultimately moulded by technological success at the expense of those impacted by colonial expansion. Now under the (often well meant) guise of "globalisation", humans attempt to consolidate this "success" by attempting to override natural law with politically correct legislation and trade agreements.
- Financial debt (by consumers and businesses) and wishful thinking now prop up an escalation of commercial activity. This "growth in GDP" is being fuelled by the demand and consumption of things not required for biological survival. (This is the process that power brokers, with the assistance of our elected leaders and public servants, currently attempt to convert to "sustainable development" at tax-payer expense. I do not think that Australia is an exception. Pardon the cynicism, but I have been in a position to watch development in Australia for over twenty years.)
-
In addition to the recognised accrual of financial debt we have the accrual of
hidden costs. In the human tradition of 'environmental opportunism' these costs
were born in the short-term (socially) by those dispossessed/displaced and in
the long-term (ecologically) by Mother Nature (this seemed to work while
reserves lasted or were being replenished at an adequate rate) ...
The
net result of these and other related trends are summarised/substantiated far
better by the likes of Paul Hawken ("The Ecology of Commerce" ISBN
0-88730-704-3) or Dr David Suzuki ("Good News for a Change" ISBN
1-86508-579-0).
By the beginning of the new millennium it had become patently obvious to the observant lay person that issues like global-climate and landscape management (biomass burning, water management, carbon sequestering, etc.) transcend regional or national boundaries. Some of us have personally experienced that in many cases human migration simply foreshadows refuge seeking by displaced persons. Tim Flannery (coming from a largely 'finite biological resource-base' paradigm) formulates a powerful argument why Aboriginal Australia 200 years ago could not sustain the political and life-style refugees that have since arrived on these shores. Allan Savory (coming from a 'renewable biological resource-base' paradigm) presents an even more powerful and very practical argument why modern humans, where-ever they went on this planet, triggered off unprecedented 'change', resulting over time in vastly modified environments. Archaeological findings even seem to indicate that we may not be the first human population of the Kimberley to be faced with diminished yield of our resource-base. Empirical evidence that I have observed over the last 17 years would seem to suggest the same.
When
I placed my bets over fifteen years ago, it was done so on strength of results
that I had witnessed on other parts of the planet and the belief that sunshine,
soil and water are the three building blocks of agricultural productivity.
History teaches us that any and every sustainable human economy that is to
include commerce rests on agriculture. (I distinguish between finance, commerce
and economics: http://www.edublvd.com/website/asavory/index8.html
). When agriculture fails civilisation fails.
If
we focus on the actual message of Allan Savory (rather than on his style of
communicating and/or his personal philosophy) many of us who are actually
putting to the test at practical levels the process of decision-making that he
advocates, find that our management is greatly assisted. I do not claim that
this process offers us perfect vision. Holistic Management (R) is however a
quantum leap ahead of anything else I have come across to date in relation to
management situations where differing views arise and apparent conflicts of
interest would otherwise result in endless waffle or waste of public and private
funds.
(But
this has more to do with emotional and psychological domains where I am out of
my depth. I am also out of touch with where Human Resource Gurus are up to.)
I therefore wish to emphasise that whilst I both acknowledge and support the above, Allan Savory's most spectacular break-through in my eyes occurred at the environmental literacy level many years ago:
1---> putting into a workable land-management context four "key insights" (pages 13 - 49 in his new book or pages 23 to 52 in the old one):
- Importance of the holistic perspective/approach (a concept that is embraced in the wisdom of many cultures, but one that could not hold the lime light when the acclamation of technological success began to deafen science in recent centuries);
- The concept of "brittleness" (this may be a paradigm that one day may lose relevance, but at the moment it is proving to be very useful in land management situations all over the world);
-
Predator-prey relationships in the evolution and
maintenance of grassland communities (both scientific and empirical proof
abounds on other continents and we
appear to be collecting a little here in Australia:
- "Over-grazing" has little to do with actual animal numbers, but everything to do with how herbivores behave in ecologically dysfunctional situations. (Scientific and empirical proof abound on all continents.)
2---> A simple way to relate to what is taking place in any environment based on subjectively interpreting four fundamental eco-system processes. This process enables anybody who is moderately environmentally literate to begin "reading" what is taking place in an environment on a day to day basis, it does not require PhDs or any great deal of knowledge, it simply requires training and practice to improve the skill.
But
how do we scientifically evaluate all of this?
I
do not know. What I do know is that it makes good sense to scientifically
evaluate one particular thesis of Holistic Management ®:
Can
the manipulation of the three 'building blocks' (mentioned earlier) if managed
holistically compensate for loss/lack of "inherent" soil-fertility
(loss/lack of "desirable minerals and nutrients")?
Is
this the stumbling block for those engaged in the "range profession"?
I do not know.
Did
animals on their own do a better job of looking after the planet before
"Homo-Sapiens" interfered?
Do we have so much faith in our achievements as a species over the last two hundred years that we need not explore how nature might have maintained a balance that supported much higher levels of biodiversity? What we learn of greater species diversity and population numbers of large organisms that existed until very recent times now sounds more like science fiction.
Looking
at the booklet "WHAT IS HEALTHY COUNTRY?" one could be forgiven for
thinking that key points about "health" have either been missed or are
not adequately understood. (I never did get a response to my input a copy of
which can be found at the end of page: http://www.edublvd.com/website/asavory/index19.html
)
Even if we were to disbelieve those who claim that this region supported forest before the first humans arrived, why is it that we now find desertifying environments in a 700 mm (or higher) rainfall region? If the answer is "higher annual evaporation rates than annual precipitation", why are we witnessing an increase in biodiversity and changing micro-climates in areas that we manage for more effective use of available water and sunshine?
Just
like I do not like my chances of learning much about 'behaviour' from a comatose
body, I suspect we learn more about 'landscapes' by study with reference to the
naturally proscribed functions than we do by thorough investigation of
dysfunctional situations. The practical approach we have adopted has delivered
results that each year surpassed my expectations. I am thankful for the support
of individuals within the Ag department who assisted by documenting the visual
change in early years. However as we learn that landscape "health" is
not a function of landscape "condition" but that the opposite is true,
so, as of about 1997 photo-monitoring has lost a lot of its relevance in our
situation. Whereas I have little doubt that "range condition" may
continue to be a useful tool to gauge the suitability for specific industry
purposes, this sort of data is inadequate in ascertaining scientifically sound
analysis of prevailing trends.
For
over two years now Kachana Pastoral Company has been pushing for biological
monitoring to be conducted in order to scientifically evaluate trends we witness
in country subjected to the management of fundamentally differing interest
groups:
-
Country managed by CALM,
-
Country managed to serve the desires of aboriginal interest groups,
-
Country managed to serve the demands of the pastoral industry,
-
Country managed to produce export crops and
-
Country that is being "left to nature". (I view the latter to be an
abdication of management responsibility of environments which over time had
become addicted to human input; A crime of environmental vandalism that equates
to walking away from the scene of an accident; only on a much larger scale.)
Despite PGA backing, these requests were ignored to the extent that nobody even as much as inquired about what a pastoral tenant may mean by the term "biological monitoring". May 2001, at great expense to our operation and with the help of other private support we helped arrange for Allan Savory (an internationally accepted authority on eco-system function) to address locals. To my knowledge our report was not even printed in the Department of Agriculture WA (Pastoral and Ag) Memos. Apart from comments on Landline ABC-TV ( http://www.abc.net.au/landline/stories/s308791.htm ) department personnel present did not come up with a report even though there was at least one formal request that I know of.
Kachana Pastoral Company is successfully using "introduced species" (also known to some as "exotic plants and animals" and more recently as "environmental weeds and feral animals") to stabilise creek-banks and to reduce loss of soil
Some plants we use originate from a local Ag Dept research station, others were to our knowledge bread by the CSIRO to withstand Northern Australian conditions and others were introduced to Australia when local species failed to yield to the demand of primary production. Now these plants seem to do much more than we had originally hoped for: they capture more energy than the locals, they bring up nutrients while building biomass in the soil and they provide seeds to feed local bird and insect populations. We now produce vegetation faster than we can grow out our herd, and from what we can judge local herbivores are on the increase as are bird, reptile, insect and other populations obvious to the eye.
We
cannot expect our senior department people to swing their opinions with the
ideas of each itinerant "snake oil salesman". But if so "...much
(of what Allan Savory advocates) flies in the face of conventional rangeland
wisdom ..." and land managers all over the world including myself claim
that the "snake oil" works why are there no funds being directed to
scientifically analyse this "snake oil" in local situations? Let us
attempt to at least find out why it actually seems to work better than
recommended conventional remedies and practices advocated by our departments.
It
is in this setting that we encourage scientifically sound third party research
into our results. This invitation was originally extended to CALM and AGWEST
long before you arrived in the area. Unfortunately due to fiscal restraint the
offer has not yet been taken up. Both agencies have however been very supportive
in other areas at times and now thanks to the assistance of Kimberley
Specialists we have students from
over four different universities looking at conducting independent (but
coordinated) research. (Until you informed me I was not aware of CALM's support
in this; so THANKS again!) This is a move that we really welcome as it will not
only help to keep us "honest", but it will give us sound management
information to assist future decision making.
We
must not forget that while we express and continue to debate differing opinions,
our resources continue to decline and the lively hood of future generations is
at stake. This is hardly a matter of perceptions. There are more things at stake
than individual comfort zones, careers and current business opportunities.
(Recent flooding may have helped bring this message home
http://www.abc.net.au/kimberley/stories/s493225.htm
http://www.abc.net.au/kimberley/stories/s492225.htm
http://www.abc.net.au/kimberley/stories/s492239.htm
http://www.abc.net.au/kimberley/stories/s490206.htm
).
I
still feel our generation has the choice to either compound the effects of
ignorant mismanagement of the past (which was largely performed in innocence) or
to choose to contribute to searching for more acceptable outcomes.
I
thank you for your supportive stance in this matter. May I use this opportunity
to request you and any others that may have read this to assist us in promoting
our "Landscape Management Workshop" early September each year? We will
be visiting 15 photo-monitoring sites that were installed with the assistance of
the Ag Department end of the dry season 1992.
(Details
on: http://www.edublvd.com/website/KACHANA/society.htm
; more info will be uploaded soon.)
To
better reference local trends in future we also intend to commence "soil-foodweb"
monitoring this year in conjunction with Uni-Student Projects (www.soilfoodweb.com).
Any support in this will be appreciated. On this note we recommend to people in
this region to attend Dr Elaine Ingham's course which is planned to take place
in Kununurra 21st and/or 22nd August 2002.
In
conclusion I wish to quote the Kimberley regional head of the Ag Department on
ABC-TV this time last year: "... There's
a lot of risk associated with going on some paths but most importantly you've
got to understand if we do get it wrong the effects are going to take an awfully
long time to heal and that's my concern...”
Is
it possible that we did get it wrong? Is it possible that we still are getting
it wrong?
I
believe we are as wrong in Australia today as we were in Rhodesia 100 years ago
when we began to "civilise" Southern Africa. I am seeing on the ground
and from the air all the same signs I saw in Rhodesia 35 years ago.
The
unfortunate political reality seems to be that elected representatives do not
last long enough these days to be able to satisfactorily address these issues
even if they were to take the time to become environmentally literate. It is you
people with access to technology & science and us guys with direct access to
the latest information (that our environments supply us with on a day to day
basis) who need to communicate more effectively. This is however not done by
dragging us into the office or to meetings at our personal expense.
While
improving satellite technology may have its place in evaluating big picture
trends, motivated, active and innovative landcare can only take place at the
grass-roots. Producing
effective stewards of our resources is every bit as challenging as encouraging
functional earthworm and dung beetle populations
I
look forward to seeing a few more scientists and department people back out in
the field over coming years and to more effective communication and better
results.
Have a good day.
Cheers,
Chris
True profitability begins with healthy
ecological assets!
www.environmental-literacy.com Tuning in to what
Nature can tell us.
PLEASE FIND BELOW POINTS I RESPONDED
TO. CERTAIN PORTIONS HAVE BEEN OMITTED TO SAFEGUARD INDIVIDUAL PRIVACY.
Sent:
Friday, April 26, 2002 2:50 PM
Subject:
RE: INVITATION TO OUR LANDSCAPE MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP
Greetings, Chris
Where do I stand? I assume you are referring to comments I made to
........
1. I support anyone who has conservation of natural resources at
heart (rather than as lip service) and particularly anyone who seeks to improve
the way we use and manage them. Thus, I have the highest regard for your (KPC's)
aims and objectives. Moreover, the way you and your family dedicate your lives
to "putting your money where your mouth is" sets an example that few
of us live up to. So, NO I don’t have a problem with what you are trying to
achieve. I respect it!
2. ........ No I don't have a personality issue with ........ I
respect ..... passion for ..... area of interest and ..... efforts to attract
(with others) research into the area. As you may know, I have done my best to
play a part by providing logistical and practical support to several of the
....... students, loaning my vehicle, equipment etc and providing advice on
methodology identifying specimens (including aspects of .......'s study on
Kachana). However, in response to a suggestion .....made, I told ...... that,
given the core business and responsibilities of my employer, CALM, and the
specific nature of the work that I am funded to do, it is impractical and
inappropriate for me to work on grazing management at Kachana. (That is not to
say that I am disinterested in grazing management. I believe in integrated
public and private NRM in the Kimberley and I put a lot of effort into
communicating with and understanding the perspectives of pastoral managers etc.)
3. Allan. I concur with his holistic management principles (although
many people make management decisions in that way in all sorts of family,
community and business contexts without using the term holistic management to
describe it). However, I do not subscribe to the wholesale applicability of his
grazing management theories in those parts of arid and semi-arid Western
Australia that I am familiar with and, in particular, I was concerned by the way
in which (I understood him) to promote his grazing management theory as if it
were a natural corollary of holistic management principles. I can see no
obligate link. If I misinterpreted that message, many other people have been
similarly misguided. In my opinion, there were fundamental flaws to his
explanation of excessive rest for the erosion of the peaty valley soil and the
state of the ridge-top where we awaited the chopper on Kachana. I said so at the
time and I have said so since. Moreover I have seen the devastating consequences
of overgrazing in Africa and Australia
4. Despite saying all that, I keep an open mind and I am always
prepared to admit that I have been wrong. Above all, I welcome experimental
testing of hypotheses so that we can all reach conclusions on the basis of fact
rather than theory. Thus I respect and welcome your approach. I want to see your
work continue and I look forward very much to the outcome.
We are all concerned about the same things. To "do it
better", we need to objectively explore options, observe outcomes and adopt
the ones that work. Like you, I want to "keep things positive, open and
honest whilst dealing at a professional level." Constructive debate is part
of that process and I look forward to improved knowledge on which we can found
such debate and achieve win-win outcomes. Your work and your forums are
important contributions to both.
I trust that you now know where I stand.
Cheers
........
Department of Conservation and
Land Management
& Tropical
Savannas Management CRC