Manawatu Evening Standard. THURSDAY, JUNE 8, 1939. VANISHING SOIL.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LIX, Issue 160, 8 June 1939, Page 8

Manawatu Evening Standard. THURSDAY, JUNE 8, 1939. VANISHING SOIL.

That civilisation on four continents rests on the insecure foundation of man’s failure to adapt himself properly to his environment; and that unless drastic changes are made, and made quickly, in the economy and social structure prevailing in many parts of the world, to-day’s rich and powerful nations will rapidly follow their predecessors down the path of impoverishment and decay—these are two assertions made in a remarkable publication which recently came oil the presses in England. It is not a treatise on politics, industry, currency, or war—it is a world survey of soil erosion, calling the attention of heedless millions to the steady destruction of the earth’s thin living cover that is “proceeding at a rate and on a scale unparalleled in history.” In our own Dominion we have firsthand evidence of this impoverishment of the earth and loss of land through erosion, caused to a large extent by denudation of forest land and neglect to restore what has been taken from Nature’s means of conserving the soil. In many quarters thinking men are perturbed by the apathy that is shown toward this subject; it is a very real menace. But though much talk is heard from authoritative quarters as to what should be done, little or nothing is being undertaken as a practical step, while years pass and further and further instances of flooding and consequent erosion occur. The survey referred to, well-named “The Rape of the Earth,” sets out evidence that in the last few' years nearly a million square miles of new' desert have been formed, and more soil has, probably, been lost to the world between 1914 and 1934 than in all the previous ages of man. This seems incredible in the face of evidence that vast ancient deserts were previously well afforested lands; yet it is all the more compelling. The officers who have undertaken the duty of pointing out to an apathetic world the conditions existing arc in charge of two Imperial Bureaux, that of Soil Science at Rothamsted and that of Pastures and Forage Crops at Aberystwyth. The London Times describes their “unsensational scientific analysis of the extent and causes of soil erosion all over the world” as “making out a

sensational case.” In a world less preoccupied with immediate danger and political crises this thorough and carefully documented study of the greatest ultimate threat to the security of civilisation would receive widespread. and perhaps shocked, attention.

The best remedy is not a difficult one; it consists of a broad afforestation policy in watersheds and valleys, and the cessation of tree-felling on these lands. With this there is necessary a close study of watercourses and regulation of channels where essential, because some considerable time must elapse ere reafforestation becomes effective. In New Zealand the Public Works Department has undertaken an important survey of rivers and land erosion and the report on part of the undertaking is in the hands of the Government. Steps are mooted for protective action to be. taken in the Manawalu-Oroua area, which has,suffered considerable losses of land; but there is prevalent a feeling that insuflicient progress is being made to deal with a menace that is growing year by year and has already taken heavy toll.