Agroforestry for Natural Resource Management

Abstract

'It's a great time to be involved in the management of agricultural lands and forests in Australia.' If we wrote that sentence 100 years ago, we would have probably substituted the word 'management' with 'opening up' and 'exploitation'. We might have added that this was essential to secure Australia's place as one of the leading economies and nations of the modern world. While the focus of the task is very different, the scale and urgency of the many issues facing land management in Australia today has not diminished. As we continue to develop the economic productivity of our land we are confronted with the question of how to sustain this development. Agriculture and forestry both impact, and are impacted upon by, soil and water resources, native and feral plants and animals, and by atmosphere and climate. The people who manage the land are responsive to community perceptions of appropriate land management, either by legislative coercion or by gradual changes in their own environmental awareness. The agriculture and forestry sectors share much in their response to the future, and for those involved there is a great opportunity to contribute to the development of truly sustainable and economically viable rural landscapes that are uniquely Australian.