All the evidence points to clearing being the single major cause of dryland salinity. Thus, a start to rectifying dryland salinity is to stop further clearing. This is a straightforward solution, and one that will make a substantial contribution to stopping further salinity problems. But it is not an easy social or political solution.

The difficulty arises because society has taken back a property right given to farmers over 200 years ago: clearing native vegetation. Thus the problem comes to – how do we as a society achieve this? The only equitable way is via compensation.

Stopping clearing is only part of the answer, the other part lies in land rehabilitation. So far, the best approach seems to be replanting native trees and shrubs, and encouraging natural regeneration where possible. Rehabilitation is expensive and requires a lot of money for materials, labour and foregone income from areas locked up for regeneration.

One option is to establish a Land Fund linking farmers, the community and big business

The basic idea would be a voluntary donation from shoppers buying in stores owned by companies who have joined the Land Fund partnership. Such companies could be Coles, Woolworths, Franklins, FlyBuys and so on. They are the large supermarket chains who have sophisticated computer systems for tracking money.

At the time of paying, each shopper is asked if they want to contribute to the Land Fund. If yes, how much? Any money is then entered into the store computer with a special Land Fund flag and is easily tracked. The money is transferred regularly to the Land Fund. Both State and Federal governments should match this dollar for dollar.

The contribution from the company partners is to collect, track and transfer the funds. This is a considerable cost, but one which is basic to any approach to collecting money. Corporations could also contribute in kind to pay for advertising to explain the program; this is essential to convince consumers to join the scheme.

Maybe the Fund could issue a card like FlyBuys, which automatically adds the donation to the bill but rounds it up to the next whole dollar or even-number dollar. With millions of transactions, this would generate a vast amount of money.

By locating the request for donations at the check-out, this targets the very people who benefit from farm produce – everyone! We all eat the food, dress in the fibre and benefit from farms. The proposal is a true community partnership involving farmers, government, individuals in the entire community and big business. The idea could be developed to a stage where it can be sold to the boardrooms of target corporations.

Social research in Sydney and Newcastle shows that consumers are willing to pay up to 20 cents a loaf more for bread IF the money is going to a special fund to rehabilitate land. Thus the community is willing to help farmers. The government would need to spend some effort explaining the link from city dinner plate to farm and the Land Fund.

The money would be used for two purposes: compensation for not clearing, and supporting rehabilitation.

Although the experience with compensation in South Australia is not encouraging, it does show that this is the only way to go.

Supporting land rehabilitation is more straightforward and will be better supported by the urban community. If we think a bit wider, then it should be possible to link this with rural unemployment and actually get more money into rural communities. Thus the proposal could tackle several problems simultaneously.

The problem with such a proposal is to find a way of disbursing funds to the genuine targets, while minimising the administration costs. Perhaps one way is to establish a trust with strong support from non-farming industry. Each application is then assessed by this group, which is beyond client capture.

It’s up to us. What sort of landscape and future do we want for our kids? We should be developing ideas for generating large amounts of money. Let’s try to be innovative. After all, what have we got to lose? More to the point, what have YOU got to lose?

We need community partnerships in land rehabilitation and in land stewardship. Without this, the rural landscapes of NSW are doomed. 
With partnerships, we can truly pass the land – held by us in trust – on to our children.

The choice is ours. Here and now.

Dr John Pickard developed this proposal while 
at Macquarie University. He is now 
Manager of Conservation Programs & Planning with NPWS Western Directorate.