Introduction

How are we able to assess the impact that land degradation has on Australia's environment and the welfare of Australians? What do we believe to be the extent and severity of land degradation problems? Do we have a problem? If we have a problem, what options are available to solve or ameliorate it? These were central questions which the workshop organisers set down and to which participants frequently returned.

I have chosen to deal with these central questions directly in this chapter, in an attempt to distill the views that were presented in previous chapters and in subsequent discussion, and to assess the progress made towards the objectives. In addition, I consider a number of secondary questions that were put before the contributors in this section.

However, before tackling these questions it is necessary to review what is meant by land degradation. The organisers suggested that land degradation includes all those adverse effects that land uses may have on the services provided by land. They identified as the major forms of land degradation, soil erosion and salinity of land and streams, rural tree decline, loss of native and unique habitats for flora and fauna, damage to land through recreational use, and desertification through loss of vegetative cover in arid regions.

In his commentary on Section II, Peter Greig observes that there could be no absolute definition of land degradation–a rural allotment in the process of reverting to natural bush might be ‘degrading’ from a commercial farmer's point of view but ‘rejuvenating’ if the owner seeks to live on a ‘bush block’.