The purpose of this investigation is to examine a program designed to address the impact of land cover change on a local or regional environment. This program will be evaluated and an alternative sustainable approach to the management of land cover change will be assessed in terms of its potential for future success Introduction Purpose: The purpose of this report will be to outline and describe a select few of the land cover change programs that have been employed into the wheatbelt region of W.A which have been constructed to mitigate the effects of land cover change to the area, predominantly the effects of land degradation and soil salinity. This report will also be investigating how these agricultural companies and communities respond to the effects of land cover change and how they would benefit from the following programsRegion being researched: The wheatbelt region of Western Australia is one of the nine major regions found in W.A. It somewhat surrounds the Perth metro area and extends in coverage from the north of Perth to the mid-West region and east to the goldfields-Esperance region. The wheatbelt region consists of 43 local shire areas ranging from Gingin to Victoria Plains and consists of 150 km of coastline. Although it takes up a great amount of land area, the wheatbelt region lacks population and has been struggling recently to get this population growing again with a noticeable amount lack of job opportunities and culture in the region Findings What is the current land use in the wheatbelt region of WA? The current land use in the W.A wheatbelt region is predominantly used for sheep farms and harvesting wheatAlthough despite this very broad variety of uses in the region there are aims and future plans being made for the wheatbelt region to increase the diversity of agricultural purposes such as the construction of a 1,500 square metre pilot greenhouse on a farm located near the Arthur River in the wheatbelt regionWhat was the natural land cover of this region? The natural land cover of the Western Australia wheatbelt region was present to the area until 1890 which was when the clearing of the lands original vegetation had begun, and the land use of the area began to change for agricultural purposesThe natural land cover of the wheatbelt region included Mallee woodlands, shrublands and eucalypt woodlands across the entire wheatbelt region What are the characteristics of the soil in the wheatbelt region? The soil of the wheatbelt region has been formed as one of the oldest and most stable land surfaces on planet earth, resulting in soils that are highly weathered and often have low fertilityDespite this fact, the soil types are highly variable across the wheatbelt region, but they do depend on either their rock or substrate type, geomorphology, climate, hydrology and vegetation and can also range from deep sandy soils, through duplex soils to heavy clay soilsThe soils of this land being highly variable have resulted in the wheatbelt region being an excellent area for agricultural growth to bloom and develop for future years but it the soils also happens to be highly vulnerable to extreme rises in soil salinity which would unfortunately prevent the plants being able to be grown or harvested in the area What is the purpose of the horticulture wheatbelt region program?The purpose of the program is to enable a new agricultural system for the wheatbelt region of W.A that involves the addition of a variety of vegetables to be planted into the area through the use of greenhousesAlthough the wheatbelt region is said to have experienced water shortages recently due to a number of dry winters as well as having to deal with the horticulture using up large amounts of water, the coordinator behind this program, Dr. Cole, suggests that the company would have sufficient enough access of water to grow the desired vegetables in the areaThe wheatbelt region in W.A has said to be lacking population and productivity recently but with the new implication of this program the area is said to be revived with more productivity and population with the new program providing jobs to locals and people from overseasWhat are the strategies being employed by the wheatbelt program? one strategy is to employ a greenhouse to the area which would introduce new vegetable plant species to be grown and adapted into the wheatbelt region, these new vegetable plant species include capsicum, tomato and cucumberthis strategy will be funded entirely through private equity and is planned out by Wide Open Agriculture to build a 1500 square metre pilot greenhouse on a farm located near the Arthur River What are the potential economic costs and benefits of the wheatbelt region program?Benefits
? the potential economic benefits include a new source of profit for the farmers and landowners of the wheatbelt region which would come from the new agricultural production of vegetables in the area? it would also attract private investment to the area which would allow for economic growth in the wheatbelt region and the agricultural industryCosts
? the potential economic costs include the risk of the horticulture business in the wheatbelt region failing and thus causing a major loss of profit for the agricultural workers in the area due to the investments being quite heavy as the money being put into this program exceeds millions of dollars? although the possibilities of the program failing financially would be very slim as the area of growth for this program is large and would need plenty of negative factors to kick in for this program to lose profit for the agricultural workers of the wheatbelt region What are the potential social costs and benefits of the wheatbelt region program? Benefits
the potential social benefits of the program include the growth of population in the area and the increased chances of collaboration with companies in other regionsthe program could also form communities that revolve around the horticulture process in the wheatbelt region which would bring people together and increase socialising in the communityCosts
the potential social costs include the loss of social ties between the community and those who are heavily invested in the farming of sheep and wheat due to the shift of power between them and the new horticulture farmers What are the potential environmental costs and benefits of the wheatbelt region program? Benefits
-the environment of the wheatbelt region could heavily benefit from the implication of the horticulture program with the new greenhouse providing a variety of vegetables that could influence the growth of new flora in and around the area-planting flora into the region for farming enterprises could also provide other benefits towards the farmland such as wind breaks, soil protection, local water ground management and aestheticsCosts
-costs to the environment include an increase of soil salinity in the area which could prevent further growth of plants in the area (if soil salinity levels are high enough)-further land cover change and land degradation which would be encouraged by the new land use of the program and may cause damage to the land of the wheatbelt region that cannot be reversed or mitigatedWhat is the purpose of the alternative wheatbelt region program known as farming with windrows?-This program is on a farmland which is situated between Cunderdin, Merredin and Corrigin and is located in a small town known as Ardath-each year the two land managers (Martin and Sheena) plant trees on their property to create microclimates and protect the landscape from erosion-with funding through the wheatbelt NRM they also decided to apply for a few sets of oil Mallee seedlings to protect three of their low flying paddocks which were susceptible to frost-In July 2012 Martin and Sheena planted the oil mallees in several two row belts, in an East to West direction-Martin explained why this technique was important the logic behind planting east to west was to minimise the shading effect on crops and to shelter the paddocks from damaging north-westerly winds How well does the windrows wheatbelt region program provide long term sustainable management? -the windrows program provides great long term sustainable management for the wheatbelt region with multiple strategies being input into the farmland that will serve the area well in the long term just as much as it will in the short term-the planted trees will continue to reduce the risk of soil erosion from occurring in the wheatbelt region, as more trees are planted and if more area is covered from these growing trees we can ensure that in the long run the soil that belongs to the farmland will avoid erosion problems-the extra vegetation being planted on the property will also be able to create microclimates for years to come-the 20,000 oil mallees that were aimed to be planted across three low flying, flat paddocks (330 hectares of land over the three paddocks) in order to protect them from frost due to that 330 hectares being susceptible to it in the first place-having the crops negatively affected by frost would have diminished their market value and would have been unable to sell thus leading to all the hard work and patience of the growth of the crops gone to waste but with the oil mallees vegetation growth across the area the land owners can ensure that their crops will be protected from the effects of frost in the long termBibliographyAgriculture and food 2018, D.P.I.R.D, accessed 24 May 2019,
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