Desertification Australia and the perfect storm

It’s time to implement an Australian Sovereign Wealth Fund

ACROSS Australia, we are seeing the effects of more and more extreme drought. The landscape is drying up rapidly, rivers are running well below expectations and aquifers are shrinking at record rates. Trees are dying, pastures are disappearing, and the soil is more exposed than ever to potential wind and water erosion.

Is it good enough to simply think it will all go away at the end of the next rain? Is this not desert intensification and why hasn’t anyone put forward a plan of recovery? Like a rabbit stunned by the headlights of an oncoming car, Australia is motionless and seems unable to act as it awaits a perfect storm.

Signs of the perfect storm

The term desertification is a form of land degradation and refers to the expansion of arid areas across a landscape. This is typically areas where vegetation, wildlife, biodiversity and water bodies begin to disappear leaving large tracks of land that have bare soil. This leads to depletion of soil organic matter and nutrients essential for revegetation following rains. It is caused by deforestation, overgrazing and poor agricultural practices (all human-induced activities). As shown on the USDA’s Global Desertification Vulnerability Map (next page), Australia has vast areas that have a high to very high vulnerability to desertification.

Why is desertification increasing in Australia and why isn’t it being discussed?

Like many places around the globe, Australia has failed to recognise that many of its current agricultural practices are destroying soil health and leading us to an ecological abyss.

One of the most common causes is overgrazing which severely reduces root mass and finally leads to plant death. Through a process known as exudation, roots secrete the glue that holds the soil together, retains water, helps recycle nutrients and are an important photosynthetic mechanism to sequester atmospheric carbon dioxide and put it in the soil for a long time. In other words, plant photosynthesis with good root systems is one important solution to anthropogenic carbon emissions. On the other hand, overgrazing leads to poor root dynamics, compaction of the soil, reduced diversity, exposure to erosion and declining food quality. It comes about from a mixture of farmers’ lack of understanding of good grazing and land management practice (providing suitable rest times for pasture regeneration) and the financial pressure of banks pushing farmers and graziers to increase rather than decrease stock numbers.

The other cause of desertification is an oversimplification of cropping agriculture and the development of monoculture landscapes (that is the antipathy of nature). In our quest to follow the holy grail of economic efficiency, large tracts of timber have been cleared, fences have been removed and integrated farming practices (a mixture of diverse crops, pastures and livestock) have been replaced by single crops that spread from horizon to horizon. Historically important crop rotations and diverse pastures have been replaced by single- species annual crops often rotated with long- term bare fallows (leaving the soil bare for up to 18 months).

Nature abhors bare ground because it shuts down the liquid carbon exudate pathways provided by photosynthesis. These pathways recycle nutrients and stimulate healthy biodiverse microbes to convert these liquid carbons into stable soil humus. It is the soil humus that hydrates the landscape and provides an ecological living bridge between wet and dry periods. Fallows sterilise the soil and rocket the soil towards desertification.

The irony of ‘modern technological farming’ is that

breeding of these high-yielding, high-input grain crops since the mid-1900s has also led to smaller root systems unable to withstand dryer climatic conditions. The older taller varieties that shaded out weeds and had large root systems have been replaced with dwarf varieties that need herbicides in order to compete.

We have created a farming monster that is reducing biodiversity, reducing soil health and drying the catchment.

The end result is that we have completely changed the hydrology of the landscape within the last 70 years. We have replaced multi- species perennial grasses, legumes, herbaceous plants and trees with annual crops, bare soil and environmental wastelands full of salinity and soil erosion.

According to the early explorers’ records (George Robinson and Sir Paul Strzelecki).[ 2, 3] Australia was once a fertile series of plains with raised connecting ponds that formed rivers in times of extended rainfall. The soils were historically rich in organic matter holding valuable nutrients and water.

Overgrazing and monocultures of grain crops have destroyed a once fertile oasis. No-one wants to discuss how we tackle this problem because current research is based on short- term productivity, partly and fully funded by large fertiliser, chemical and seed companies. These companies are represented by their peak body Crop Life Australia, which actively lobbies the Federal Government to make sure things stay the same.

In essence, modern farming has led to declining soil organic matter levels and less resilience to extremes in climate. This results in reduced returns on investment and more debt with many farmers now being serfs to the banks and financial system.

Throwing good money after bad

Both Federal and State Governments issued countless media releases in 2018 announcing over $1 billion in aid for the farming sector. The real question is, where will this money end up and will it make the farming community more resilient to drought and climatic extremes? It is my firm belief that most of this money will end up addressing outstanding debt and hence flow back into the banking sector. Would it not be better to help farmers identify the farming systems and methodologies that make farming more drought-proof, more resilient to extremes in climate?

A reconnaissance of exemplary drought farmers and an agricultural policy

One of the first things the Federal Government could do is send out a team of agricultural specialists to investigate what farmers and farming systems have survived through this devastating drought. Rather than focus on the squeaky wheel, this team should look at examples of best management practice for combating extremes in climate. These will include farmers who have adopted cell grazing, holistic management, natural sequence farming, keyline farming, contour farming, ley farming, organic and biological farming.

This report to the Federal Government should be public information and should form the beginning of a ‘climate resilience policy’. Also, this national agricultural policy must override both State and Local government policy as it is in the national interest that we get this right. It runs through catchments, not electoral boundaries.

Deforestation, the biotic pump and waiting for less rain

Despite the fact that 75 per cent is desert, Australia has lost 40 per cent of its forest with the remaining being highly fragmented (Bradshaw 2012).[ 4] These remaining fragments are made up of ageing and scattered trees on private land, Crown Land, State Forests and National Parks. On private land, overgrazing and poor management (like burning) have led to compacted soils under trees, young trees being killed or eaten and increasing susceptibility to insects and disease.

Recent large- scale deforestation has continued on larger private farming properties in Queensland and in coastal regions nationwide as large private holdings make way to subdivision and housing development. On Crown Land and National Parks, forest biodiversity is also under severe threat from weed infestations. State Forests have been reduced to minimal species and according to Huang et al (2018)[ 5] biodiverse forests fix twice as much carbon as single- species forests. This means biodiverse forests will hold and transpire more moisture, rehydrating the landscape.

The result of this wide- scale deforestation across one of the driest continents on earth is there has been a significant reduction in rainfall. In WA, the removal of large tracts of forests during 1960-1980 led to rainfall reductions of 16 per cent.[ 6] With many of the remaining forests now under extreme stress, this figure is likely to be much higher. In 2010, myrtle rust (Austropuccinia psidii) was introduced from overseas effecting 350/1646 (21 per cent) of the Myrtaceae (Eucalyptus) family.[ 7, 8] Together with desertification, deforestation and subdivision (till oblivion) myrtle rust is contributing to this perfect storm of disasters. Biodiverse intact forests play a huge role in recycling water across a landscape. The theory of a biotic pump outlines the importance of forests in determining rainfall across a region, dehydrating the rivers and aquifers. It helps explain why regions close to these forests always attract rain, especially where the forest connects itself to the sea. You see this in Tasmania; where hillsides have not been cleared, green valleys and mists remain. The same can be seen in Northern NSW and South East Queensland where the Border Ranges National Park connects itself to the sea bringing large amounts of rain to the region.

The same theory explains why large amounts of rainfall make their way to central African rainforests and the Amazon. When you remove these diverse forests, the biotic pump is cut and the landscape dries, leading to less river flow and falling aquifer levels. This is what is happening to Australia and very few see the relationship between biodiverse untouched forest cover and rehydration.

Australians are now transfixed with the hope that the next rain event will herald the end to all our woes. Annual rainfalls are now at near-record-low levels and when it does rain, these bursts are often violent, resulting in erosion, hail and damaging floods. This will only get worse as predicted by climate change modelling. We seem to be oblivious to what has caused, and how to address, the problem. We appear to be stunned rabbits waiting for less rain.

A fresh vision and the cost of doing nothing

As discussed above, following an initial reconnaissance of existing climate-resilient farmers and practices, a ‘climate resilience policy’ needs to be prepared and written into law. It will form the basis of all future Federal funding and must override both State and Local Government laws. In particular, a national moratorium on clearing forests for both farming, grazing and subdivision for housing. This ‘climate resilience policy’ will encourage private landholders to adopt longer- term planning practices.

Some of the practices that may come out of the initial reconnaissance may include:

•Grazing and farming systems that monitor the farm for changes to soil carbon/humus levels and plant biodiversity and the relationship to productivity and profitability.

• Farm designs that enhance hydrological and biodiverse microclimates by reducing crop and animal stress

• Set a minimum percentage of forest cover for each farm to produce optimal microclimate effect

• Identification of the economic value of Ecosystem services (free services provided by nature) that benefit both the environment and farming

In addition, a national approach to reforestation needs to be adopted. One possibility is to first begin protecting the existing biodiverse forests close to and surrounding the headwaters of the major river systems. This may

entail the Federal Government buying out strategic farms for the sole purpose of trying to create a wide region of biodiverse forest that connects itself back to the coast. This will provide employment and assist in the improvement of water quantity and quality. Coupled with a national irrigation policy (that may entail building a water grid), this will help producers transition away from flood irrigation to drip and sprinkler irrigation. This will free up more water for further agricultural development, the environment and strategic revegetation along the river systems.

Currently, Australia has no climate resilience policy, national agricultural policy or national irrigation policy. In addition, we have no real understanding of the value of Ecosystem services nor the long- term cost of our current system. There is an implicit cost of salinity, erosion and loss of biodiversity that will be paid for by future generations.

The other benefit of developing a climate resilience policy is that the Federal Government will be able to minimise climate refugees. The Syrian crisis and refugees that scrambled to Europe can be linked back to the huge droughts of 2006-11.[ Over 1.5 million Syrians moved from the countryside to the city where there was little food, water and jobs spawning the social unrest that was to follow. Across the fertile crescent, Africa and Asia, there is already mass migration from the countryside to the cities and with climate change, this will only get worse.

Funding - the no-brainer case

Whenever a problem and solution to any issue is raised, the naysayers often come up with the excuse “we can’t afford it”. With an ageing population and budgetary restrictions in almost every sector, it’s time for Australia to set up a sovereign wealth fund. A sovereign wealth fund would be a large superfund set up for all Australians, providing a short- term secondary income stream separate from taxation. It would work by never spending any of the capital and only withdrawing a small percentage of the interest earned. In essence, the fund would exponentially increase year-on-year.

Currently, Australia has the eighth largest reserve of natural resources in the world exporting over $250 billion of product a year. This resource is owned by the Australian people with the mining rights leased by mining companies who then pay a small royalty to each state. This money goes into consolidated revenue. Currently, Australia has an unprecedented number of expired mines that have never been rehabilitated (over 10,000 in Queensland). Many of the larger mining companies strategically sell off their mining rights with a small attached resource to smaller companies who are then responsible for any rehabilitation once the mine is finished. In many cases, these smaller companies often go broke leaving the rehabilitation costs to the states, further compounding the problem.

In order to establish a sovereign wealth fund, it is proposed that a rehabilitation tax of five per cent is levied on all resources mined from Australia. This money would then be placed in a sovereign wealth fund managed by a separate board. This capital is then managed like any sovereign wealth fund investing in assets that benefit the country. Only 10 per cent of the interest earned on this capital is available for public spending (like reforestation and drought initiatives) with the remaining 90 per cent going back into the capital fund. Once the life of the mine or resource is over, the capital is then returned to the company once they have proven that rehabilitation is finished. By doing this, each mining company provides a mechanism for both rehabilitation and developing the country.

A final word

Desertification and deforestation are reversible through good farming practices and a strategic approach to forestation.[ 10] In order to mitigate the effects of extremes in climate, Australia needs to adopt a proactive approach to rehydrating the landscape and building humus-rich soil. The solutions are out there but lobbying from vested interests is steering the Federal Government and, ultimately, policy in a very unsustainable direction that won’t cope with the projected climatic extremes facing us in the near future. This approach is affordable if we begin the process of setting up a sovereign wealth fund. It is one of the most equitable ways of rehabilitating both mine sites and providing an additional source of funds for building a sustainable farming and rural community. ☐

October 21, 2018.

• Adam Willson, Bachelor of Science in Agriculture (Sydney University), Director Soil Systems Australia, Agricultural Consultant specialising in regenerative and organic farming.

REFERENCES:

1USDA’s Global Desertification Vulnerability Map https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/national/nedc/training/soil/?cid=nrcs142p2_054003

2Light Farming: Restoring carbon, organic nitrogen and biodiversity to agricultural soils - Christine Jones, PhD http://amazingcarbon.com/JONES-LightFarmingFINAL(2018).pdf

3Soil Carbon – Can it Save Agriculture’s Bacon? https://regenerationinternational.org/2015/10/06/soil-carbon-can-it-save-agricultures-bacon/

4Bradshaw 2012 - Little left to lose: deforestation and forest degradation in Australia since European colonization https://academic.oup.com/jpe/article/5/1/109/1294916

5Huang et al October 2018 Impacts of species richness on productivity in a large-scale subtropical forest experiment http://science.sciencemag.org/content/362/6410/80

6Deforestation linked to rainfall decline in Western Australia https://theconversation.com/deforestation-linked-to-rainfall-decline-in-western-australia-20593

7Myrtle rust (Austropuccinia psidii) http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/invasive-species/diseases-fungi-and-parasites/myrtle-rust

8Australian Flora estimates 2009 https://www.anbg.gov.au/aust-veg/australian-flora-statistics.html

9Climate change ‘will create the world’s biggest refugee crisis’ https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/nov/02/climate-change-will-create-worlds-biggest-refugee-crisis

10Improving the capacity of organic producers to manage climate change

Andre Leu