aspect of this area of law to soil conservation is that in most cases the laws protect
areas of land that are ecologically sensitive and would otherwise be highly susceptible to degradation if subjected to other forms of land use, particularly forestry,
agriculture and grazing. Importantly, this area of legislation provides for the dedication of land for conservation protection purposes, but they also have comprehensive land assessment and land management requirements. In this regard, specific soil
conservation measures are applied to protect soil resources and natural ecosystems.
The majority of these laws apply to public lands (including Crown lands). In
some states, e.g. Victoria Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988, Western Australia
Wildlife Conservation Act 1950—this area of law will apply to private land management. In this regard, they are very relevant to soil conservation objectives as,
often, land that is ecologically sensitive and with high biological diversity, quickly
degrades if disturbed for agricultural or other intensive land use purposes. Thus, the
protection of this land by law for conservation purposes prevents soil degradation.
Soil conservation measures will be required on these lands as a part of basic land
management, e.g. road maintenance, fire control, and revegetation.
6 Conclusions
There is no national law for soil conservation in Australia. The management of soil
resources is primarily a state matter with most of the eight State jurisdictions having
had some form of soil conservation law at some stage in the past. The national
government takes a coordinating role through the development of national resource
policies and strategies and controlling substantial financial resources which the states
bid for under national funding guidelines. Five of the eight state jurisdictions have
existing soil conservation laws, but these are greater than 30 years old and have not
been amended for some time.
Using the standard Australian definition of soil conservation, it has been found
that there are around 204 laws in Australia that are relevant to the implementation of
soil conservation, as specified in the definition. The 204 laws are categorized into
three categories according to their role in soil conservation, including; the specialized soil conservation laws, main supporting laws, and generally supporting laws.
Five of the eight states have soil conservation laws, where four of the states still have
a ‘traditional’ soil conservation law, and the state of Victoria has the Catchment and
Land Protection Law 1994 which is a specialist soil and water conservation law.
Although outdated by comparison to the modern environmental laws of Australia,
the existing ‘traditional’ soil conservation laws have mechanisms to implement
basic, practical soil conservation measures (e.g. land planning, land management,
enforcement, advisory committees, declare areas of erosion hazard, research).
When the main era of modern environmental law reform took place in Australia
in the 1990s, a number of states abolished their specific soil conservation laws and
integrated soil conservation activities and responsibilities within comprehensive
integrated natural resource laws. From this time, the remaining specialist soil
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I. Hannam
areas of land that are ecologically sensitive and would otherwise be highly susceptible to degradation if subjected to other forms of land use, particularly forestry,
agriculture and grazing. Importantly, this area of legislation provides for the dedication of land for conservation protection purposes, but they also have comprehensive land assessment and land management requirements. In this regard, specific soil
conservation measures are applied to protect soil resources and natural ecosystems.
The majority of these laws apply to public lands (including Crown lands). In
some states, e.g. Victoria Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988, Western Australia
Wildlife Conservation Act 1950—this area of law will apply to private land management. In this regard, they are very relevant to soil conservation objectives as,
often, land that is ecologically sensitive and with high biological diversity, quickly
degrades if disturbed for agricultural or other intensive land use purposes. Thus, the
protection of this land by law for conservation purposes prevents soil degradation.
Soil conservation measures will be required on these lands as a part of basic land
management, e.g. road maintenance, fire control, and revegetation.
6 Conclusions
There is no national law for soil conservation in Australia. The management of soil
resources is primarily a state matter with most of the eight State jurisdictions having
had some form of soil conservation law at some stage in the past. The national
government takes a coordinating role through the development of national resource
policies and strategies and controlling substantial financial resources which the states
bid for under national funding guidelines. Five of the eight state jurisdictions have
existing soil conservation laws, but these are greater than 30 years old and have not
been amended for some time.
Using the standard Australian definition of soil conservation, it has been found
that there are around 204 laws in Australia that are relevant to the implementation of
soil conservation, as specified in the definition. The 204 laws are categorized into
three categories according to their role in soil conservation, including; the specialized soil conservation laws, main supporting laws, and generally supporting laws.
Five of the eight states have soil conservation laws, where four of the states still have
a ‘traditional’ soil conservation law, and the state of Victoria has the Catchment and
Land Protection Law 1994 which is a specialist soil and water conservation law.
Although outdated by comparison to the modern environmental laws of Australia,
the existing ‘traditional’ soil conservation laws have mechanisms to implement
basic, practical soil conservation measures (e.g. land planning, land management,
enforcement, advisory committees, declare areas of erosion hazard, research).
When the main era of modern environmental law reform took place in Australia
in the 1990s, a number of states abolished their specific soil conservation laws and
integrated soil conservation activities and responsibilities within comprehensive
integrated natural resource laws. From this time, the remaining specialist soil
210
I. Hannam