Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
Box 7.1. My farm is extensively cleared - should I bother doing
conservation work?
Throughout this topic we have discussed the negative effects of vegetation clearing
on biodiversity. Some landholders believe that because their farm is extensively
cleared there is no point in commencing restoration work. We strongly disagree!
There are opportunities to improve conservation outcomes on all farms, even highly
cleared ones. For example, we have found that many species of birds and reptiles
will quite rapidly colonise plantings, even on extensively cleared farms.
1, 6, 7
Interest-
ingly, some species of birds are recruited faster to plantings on farms with low or
medium amounts of remnant native vegetation than to plantings on farms with high
levels of remnant native vegetation. Other studies have indicated that small-bodied
native woodland birds are those most likely to be recovered in plantings on farms,
including heavily cleared farms.
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Of course, restoration efforts can have many other benefits on farms other than
helping to recover biodiversity. They can help address issues with secondary salin-
ity, limit soil erosion, limit drought effects, and sequester large amounts of carbon
(as part of tackling climate change). Active restoration programs can have spectacu-
lar results on farms. These good news stories demonstrate to farmers and the Aus-
tralian public how this generation of landholders can help rewrite the nation's
environmental history so that the future of agricultural zones is a more ecologically
and economically sustainable one.
- that agricultural production cannot take place without biodiversity. As briefly
discussed in Chapter 1, biodiversity is essential for such fundamentally crucial
processes as cycling nutrients, breaking down wastes, pollinating plants, dispersing
seeds and maintaining soil fertility. New government programs mean that
biodiversity conservation also can help create valuable financial opportunities for
farmers. These programs, like the Box-Gum Grassy Woodland Stewardship
Program,
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pay landholders to enter into long-term contracts to undertake
management actions that lead to positive conservation outcomes on their farms.
There may well be other important opportunities in the future that provide
financial incentives to undertake restoration programs on farms. The most notable
example is carbon sequestration through planting trees. Informed revegetation
programs which have carbon sequestration and biodiversity conservation as
conjoint objectives offer exciting win-win opportunities for climate change
mitigation and enhanced farm wildlife management.
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Developing a farm plan
Strong relationships between wildlife on farms and the variable portfolio or
heterogeneity of vegetation assets means that the effective integration of
