Land use change: understanding and managing soil dynamics

Abstract

Lessons of the past show that care for the soil is fundamental to the rise and sustainability of agrarian civilisations. The responsibility for this care devolves to individual farmers, land managers and investors in agricultural production, all of whom are, by default, soil custodians. Soil condition is affected by land use practices; understanding the dynamics of soil and land use interaction is therefore critical in achieving sustainable soil management and the maintenance of soil health. Understanding and managing this dynamic requires good data and sound knowledge of farming systems and their interaction with soil properties and processes. The North Central Catchment Management Authority (NCCMA) region has soil and land use data at a range of scales that can assist in understanding the region’s soil assets with respect to current and future farming systems. Programs that fully engage farmers in planning for soil health, and provide appropriate tools and information, will be a cornerstone for managing soil dynamics under pressure from climate and land use change. This paper explains the contexts in which soil spatial information and land use data are collected, provides examples for the NCCMA region, and briefly describes the challenge of providing soil information at the farm scale.