Published: 11 Oct 2019

True carers of this land (we call Australia)should be the guides who show us their original ways to manage this country’s harsh climate conditions with its extreme nature and variation in rainfall periods. Climate extremes are currently accentuated by worldwide rises in temperature which scientists are proving is caused by our increased use of fossil fuels. Therefore it is vital to adapt to an ever changing and even harsher climate in order to successfully maintain soil quality, avoid erosion and grow adapted crops that will provide food to sustain both human and animal life in balance with our climate. For thousands of years the first custodians of this continent passed on their knowledge of how to manage the burning of grasslands and cultivation of indigenous seed bearing grasses on open plains. So much of that knowledge has been ignored by the European settlers and forgotten in current management and cultivation. If we as humans are to reap an existence in the arid interior of Australia we need to find again these methods to adapt, and to care for the soil. An example of this is seen in the Piliga region of NSW where forests were planted by European settlers on what was open plains used for the cultivation of such grasses. Now there are Cypress pine trees that are scrubby & of little interest to the timber industry. European settlers also introduced cattle and sheep to these landscapes and the constant impact of their hooves has compacted the soil, lowering the fertility of the top layer of soil. Can we not learn better ways from those original land carers, our Indigenous people? Inspired by the book: “The biggest estate on earth”