Papers & Presentations
How do we prepare our landscapes for the rain we expect?
How well do we prepare our landscapes for the unexpected?
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Bare ground sheds water fast and subsequently loses moisture through evaporation.
It really does not matter if we are talking about one square meter, one hectare, one square kilometre, a ranch, a state, a country or a continent.
It really does not matter if the land is in a temperate or in a tropical zone.
The same natural laws apply and nature will respond in its own unique way in every situation and the results will be “natural”. |
BUT:
- Did we humans play a part in producing those results?
- Should we humans play a part in producing the results we see in our landscapes?
- Can we live with those results?
- Can we sustain our livelihoods on those results?
- Do those results foster biodiversity and healthy productive landscapes?
Flooding in progress after 4mm of rain.
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As little as three millimetres of rain will bring on a “flood” at the microenvironment level. Altitude and distance then dictate what will happen downstream. (Often those then affected blame it on the season, unusually high rainfall, bad luck, etc.) |
Rain-water running off bare compacted
ground after four millimetres of rain.
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A poor water cycle means:
- Poor water catchment
- Poor water retention
- Poor productivity
- An impoverished environment
- Poverty (if your livelihood depends on that environment)
- Poverty (if that is the sort of landscape that we hand on to future generations)
- Conflict (if our heirs are dissatisfied with what they have to live off)
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Both drought and flooding are common symptoms of a poor water-cycle.
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High levels of “animal-impact” will reduce the run-off from small showers of rain.
- What happens if we get a 10-millimetre shower?
- What happens if we get a 20-millimetre shower?
- What happens if we get a 30-millimetre shower?
- What happens if we get a 50-millimetre shower?
- What would happen downstream?
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Ground cover as well as “animal-impact” will further reduce run-off.
- What happens if we get a 10-millimetre shower?
- What happens if we get a 20-millimetre shower?
- What happens if we get a 30-millimetre shower?
- What happens if we get a 50-millimetre shower?
- What would happen downstream?
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“Animal-impact” also provides for additional ground-cover and better rainfall-infiltration into the soil. Dung-beetles not only take carbon down into the soil, they create air-passages, water-pipes and subways for small organisms, and more.
So now:
- What happens if we get a 10-millimetre shower?
- What happens if we get a 20-millimetre shower?
- What happens if we get a 30-millimetre shower?
- What happens if we get a 50-millimetre shower?
- What would happen downstream?
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By changing rain-drops from bomb-shells to mist-irrigators.
By using large herbivores to prune, mulch and fertilise vegetation.
We make better use of:
- A 1-millimetre shower
- A 4-millimetre shower
- A 10-millimetre shower
- A 20-millimetre shower
- A 30-millimetre shower
- A 50-millimetre shower
- We can even handle a 100-mm shower!
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And we would be releasing clear clean water down-stream.
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As we turn self-destructive trends in a landscape into life-enhancing cycles our options increase.
By restoring an effective water-cycle, we also begin to trap more sunlight-energy; minerals instead of being leached out or washed away cycle through various life-forms and remain in the area. |
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Our soil, our plants and our animals are in effect our natural capital. The balance we notice is often the balance we managed for. consciously, sub-consciously or un-consciously.
Landscape Management:
- Threat or opportunity
- Poverty or wealth
- Illness or health
- To be or not to be
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“Landscape Management” will remain a key issue for generations to come.
We believe effective Landscape Management to be one of the greatest challenges facing the next generation; we also believe it to be one of the most exciting:
- “New” or perhaps different information
- New skills
- New knowledge (or at least a broader perspective on life)
- New jobs
- New wealth
- Improved outcomes
- Improved health
In other words: getting nature back on side.
(Or is it simply joining sides with Nature and learning to work with the aw-inspiring forces that shape our landscapes?)
This message was tabled by Kachana Pastoral Company, March 2004.