SOIL EROSION IN DOMINION
SERIOUS PROBLEM TO BE FACED PREVENTIVE MEASURES URGED “The problem of soil erosion is one that this country will have to face in the near future,” said the chairman (Mr A. H. Hamilton) at last night’s meeting of the Southland Progress League, when the matter came up for discussion. “The Canterbury Progress League has been very active in its efforts to have something done and this league, I think, could do something constructive also.”
It was reported that action on the question of soil erosion was taken at the recent conference of South Island Progress Leagues, which passed a motion urgently directing the Government’s attention to the serious rate of soil erosion in New Zealand and urging preventive and reclamatory action, which should be increased after the war. In addition, a skeleton soil survey service responsible to the Cabinet should be set up, the motion stated. Further felling of bush and burning off should be controlled, as well as regrassing of high country, tree-planting in eroded areas and contour-farming in those down-country localities where there was a risk of damage by erosion. In reply to a letter from the league asking what progress had been made in the investigation of soil erosion in New Zealand, the Minister of Scientific and Industrial Research (the Hon. D. G. McMillan) said that since the publication of the report of the Committee of Inquiry on land erosion in 1939 his department had been assembling information on the extent and nature of soil erosion. A good deal of material had been obtained for the North Island during the progress of soil surveys and during December the soil surveyors had begun operations in the South Island.
It was hoped, said the Minister, that other investigations on this problem, particularly the farm management aspect, would follow. Results of the first stage in the attack on the problem of erosion in the high country should be ready towards the end of the first half of this year.
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ST19410207.2.19
Bibliographic details
Southland Times, Issue 24354, 7 February 1941, Page 4
Word Count
333SOIL EROSION IN DOMINION Southland Times, Issue 24354, 7 February 1941, Page 4
Using This Item
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Southland Times. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0 New Zealand licence. This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.
Log in