Salt

Salt affected land in the Jerramungup region

Salinisation of our farmland in our wheatbelt is a serious problem and has been for a considerable time. This week I watched A Million Acres a Year (directed by Frank Rijavec, 2002), a story of government endorsed clearing of land in the south west after the second World War. A million acres of virgin bushland was released for agriculture every year from 1959 to 1969, with little consideration as to whether the land was suitable for agriculture. This was done in the government interest to create new townships and industry, provide for returned servicemen, and make good use of 'valueless unproductive bush'. As part of the conditions the landholder was obliged to bulldoze and burn the bush or risk losing their land. The stories of the clearing and burning I always find hard to take - the native animals had nowhere to go - it is horrific to contemplate. As Kaye Vaux writes in her poem The 1980 Nightmare,

'Man had a dream in the 1950s.
the bush flattened on its back tanned in the sun ...
Sap hissed in tongues of flame.
Tiny creatures lost their souls
in great mushrooms of smoke higher than heaven.'

The farms were generally cleared with little left standing for animal shelter, windbreaks or species habitat. Landowners who wanted to keep some areas uncleared had an uphill battle to do so.

As exhibited at Riseborough Gallery in Gin Gin

This film reminded me of the series of small objects I made in response to the threats to biodiversity by salinisation. they are less than 100mm high and made from silk, metal and salt. Their shapes are derived from flowers found in the wheatbelt. According to ANZECC (2001) wheatbelt salinity has led to a 50% decrease in the number of wetland bird species and threatens around 450 plant species with extinction in this region.

In the film Don Cochrane states that it had been known for over 100 years that clearing natural vegetation caused dryland salinity and land degradation. In 1897 steam train drivers reported salinisation of water in catchments that had been cleared for farming. By 1951 the Public Works Department had recommended that clearing be banned in water supply catchments due to salinity problems. Despite this, War Service land was released in Jerramungup in 1953 and more generally land was released for agriculture from 1959. Three years of drought followed from 1969 eventually forcing many farmers off the land. I remember we had our first water restrictions in Perth then. Amazingly another 3 million hectares of land was planned to be released from 1979. However another three year drought beginning in 1981 put an end to that after 10% of south coast farms suffered from severe wind erosion. The state went from releasing land for agriculture to commencing landcare programs aimed at combating wind erosion and dryland salinity.

This tragic tale ends on a positive note as many local people and organisations realise that mistakes were made and try to halt the salt and land degradation. Typical of many landowners, Steve Newby explains 'in my case I feel I've got a responsibility to repair the damage that my family has done to this land before I finish with it'. The major fronts of attack on salinity are tree planting, drainage, growing perennial pastures, fencing of remnant vegetation and planting affected land with salt tolerant perennials like saltbush. At the end the film-makers acknowledge the Noongar people whose tribal country the film depicts and 'whose story is yet to be told'. They managed the land for thousands of years within a stable ecosystem of amazing diversity. In just 200 years settler society has wrought enormous changes to the land. there is a huge amount of work to be done to re-establish a sustainable, healthy and diverse landscape where all stakeholders are valued

For a few years I grew trees and planted them on farms as part of the Men of the Trees Farm Tree Help Scheme and also volunteered in their nursery. The nursery grows a huge variety of plants for major revegetation projects. I love going back to planting sites some years after to see how much the trees have grown. Immediately after the planting it looks like you have done virtually nothing, the plants are so tiny. I remember just after 4000 trees had been planted, the farmer whose trees they were exclaimed 'What have I done!' I can fully understand his horror. But, it is amazing what grows even in the most abysmal year when the crops shrivel up, the native plants hang on.

Established eucalyptus plantation on a Tenterden farm with salt affected land 

Link to salinity map for much of the south west here