Nature and Farming: Sustaining Native Biodiversity in Agricultural Landscapes

Abstract

This book is about sustaining native biodiversity in agricultural landscapes. We define native biodiversity as those plants and animals that occur naturally in a region. We distinguish native biodiversity from the plants and animals that people have introduced from elsewhere, such as pasture plants, or have arrived unintentionally, such as rats, from other regions or countries (i.e. exotic or introduced species). ... We have written this book for people who manage or work in agricultural landscapes, including farmers, consultants and agribusiness staff, as well as policy makers, planners, educators, students and scientists. These people may be farm managers, contractors, workers or employees of government agencies, agribusinesses, educational institutions or non-governmental organisations. We have also written this book for interested laypeople who are passionate about their rural countryside, who are part of local landcare or similar groups, or who simply enjoy rural environments. We have focused on biodiversity conservation in Australian and New Zealand farmland because we are most familiar with these environments. But we believe that the issues we discuss and our approach to securing and enhancing biodiversity in these farmscapes are applicable to other developed countries, especially in North America and Europe, as there are many similarities with the agriculture practices, market economies and environmental problems of these countries. However, we have not addressed farming and conservation in the developing world as many of the biodiversity conservation issues there, and the solutions to deal with them, are likely to be different to those in the developed world.