Care of land

Press, 13 April 1989, Page 12

Care of land

Sir,—l have travelled down from Picton by bus and am dismayed at the state of the land. Most of the hills are bare of trees and where there is grass it is but a thin veneer, with the earth either totally bare or close to it. It is amazing to see this and even more amazing to see animals grazing this land. I wondered, as I watched, how many more millions of tonnes of topsoil will be lost to the ravages of wind and rain this year. The tired old hills are literally falling into the sea, and all going where it will be of no use — into the already clogged rivers and estuaries and to the sea. It would be wrong to point just to the individual custodians of the land, the farmers, although their role is visible. It is the whole Western lifestyle and the demands that we place on our world that are to blame, I think. The land has paid a huge price for our throwaway concrete and glass world. The best investment I can think of for anybody, who really cares now would be to pay the farmers to fence off valleys and steep hillsides, drive the stock out and allow the land to heal and regenerate. The return will be the chance of a habitable planet for our children. We are all in it together, it is everyone's problerii, and the duty of all. — Yours, etc., WARREN SNOW, Kaitaia. April 10, 1989.

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