1 YEOMANS’ KEYLINE DESIGN FOR SUSTAINABLE SOIL, WATER, AGROECOSYSTEM & BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION: A PERSONAL SOCIAL ECOLOGY ANALYSIS Professor Stuart B. Hill – 2003 – Email: s.hill@westernsydney.edu.au; Web: www.stuartbhill.com [Then in School of Social Ecology & Lifelong Learning], Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW. Abstract The potential for farming systems to be ‘redesigned’ and improved based on our understanding of biology and ecology is enormous. Among the few pioneers who have led the way in this ‘project’, the late P.A. Yeomans’ work in NSW is exemplary. His understanding of soils as living systems, farms as complex, integrated and evolving systems, and landscapes as the appropriate scale for planning and major decision- making was key to the development of his ‘Keyline’ approach to agriculture. In addition to learning how to make up to 10 centimetres of topsoil in three years (it normally takes 100s to 1000s of years), he designed a landscape that did not suffer from lack of water, was fireproof, high in biodiversity, and highly productive and profitable. Despite this, his ‘whole healthy system design’ approach has bee n largely neglected in favour of component focused curative approaches to problems. Here a social ecology 1 analysis of Yeomans’ contributions is provided with the hope that it may inspire a new wave of ‘whole healthy system’ approaches to agroecosystem design and management. Introduction Soil is the primary natural habitat that determines the long-term wealth of nations. Most declines in civilisations throughout history have been largely caused by the mismanagement and subsequent degradation of the land (Carter & Dale 1974; Hyams 1952; Hillel 1992). Although the highest levels of biodiversity are found in tropical rainforests, coral reefs and soil, among these ecosystems it is the activities of the communities in soil (also the home of most plant biomass) that are largely responsible for the survival and persistence of our species (Hill 1986; 1989). However, because most of the species that live in the soil are barely visible to the naked eye, and live below the surface, out of sight, in an environment that is aesthetically unattractive to most – and regarded as just 'dirt' by the majority – and because of the extreme complexity of the physical, chemical and biological relationships and processes in soil, throughout history this habitat has had few champions and crusaders for its responsible care and management. Consequently, soil has most usually been taken-for-granted, used-and-abused, and treated as the 'Cinderella' of the ecosphere. There are some parallels to our own skin. If we lose a third of our skin, through severe burns for example, we invariably die. If the earth were to lose a third of its vegetative cover, through desertification, clearing, and bare-soil management systems, which is currently increasing by millions of hectares every year, then the earth will also start to become uninhabitable for our species, and for most other terrestrial vertebrates. We are already close to this situation. P.A. Yeomans (1958; 1971; 1978), an innovative farmer in NSW who recognised the above, developed the most innovative, and most sustainable, integrated landscape design and management system that has ever been developed and tested. Sadly the importance of his contributions is yet to be widely appreciated and implemented. This is particularly difficult to understand because, more than any other designs and practises, his are able to address the growing challenges of water and biodiversity conservation, salinity, fire management, soil fertility maintenance, and livestock health. Here, I will provide a preliminary social ecology (Hill 1999a) analysis of Yeomans’ approach, its development, the difficulties he faced, and future needs and possibilities. Some Contextual Background and Personal Opinions 2 Most in our society do not have Yeomans’ understanding of ecological systems, and so nearly all of us live in ways that undermine ecological processes and miss numerous opportunities to benefit from them. This is partly because, for most of us (even those living in rural areas), our lives are dominated by non-living 1 Social ecology is “the study and practice of personal, social and ecological sustainability and change, based on the critical application and integration of ecological, humanistic, community and ‘spiritual’ values” (Hill 1999a, p. 199). 2 These are presented mostly without extensive referencing as their inclusion is intended to make transparent the position of the author, rather than to open up debate as to their validity, which I (and many others) have argued elsewhere in numerous publications.