LAND RESOURCESTirath, Mathew, Umal,

Akshay, Sunjeet

SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURELand - The Basic Resource Provides basic resources, arable (crop) and pastoral (animal) farming 11 % of land is used to grow crops, Large parts like tundra, deserts are unsuitable, Pasture lands occupy more space than crop lands 31% forested timber, the land provides mineral resources, fossil fuels, living space;

Forestry, Mining, Urban Land use affect the land

Need of Space Use land in many ways, farming, manufacture, business ¼ of North America used for transportation - Modern City for Residential Use e.g. gardens Canadian wildlife like bears moose, beaver

Pressure Issues like Soil Fertility and threatened Wild Life caused by demand of population. Tons of pressure on countries like Netherlands 15 million people in 37 000 km^2 of

land 75% [ ] of Population in cities like Montreal and Toronto - need more resources to

sustain Need good wastes facilities to get rid of enormous wastes Pressure on farmers to produce higher yield of crops

SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE – CHEMICAL USE

Increasing population = Decreasing resources Western Countries using chemicals since WW2 (herbicides, pesticides, fertilizers) Profit, use weed killers to kill weed, keeping grass allowing grain growth, in

prairies change way of grain farming Consumer demand has caused farmers to use insecticides in larger quantities and

make the product cosmetically attractive Environmental Problems, seepage of nitrates, phosphates enter ground water

reaching rivers, oceans, O2 depleting , up to 17 residues found in ½ of U.S. states Diseases like cancer, lymphoid glands (DDT) slow break down, remain in

environment 1million cases of WHO pesticide poisoning, developing countries can’t afford to

wear protective clothing Farming ecosystems from tractors and plants chemical sprays Affect species, insects, kill pests (remove natural check to the growth of pesticide

pop.) New, powerful chemicals to overcome pesticides known as “pesticide treadmill” Damage plant metabolism more vulnerable to diseases Fertilizers fossil fuels & mineral in manufacture Maintain fertility farms use (nonrenewable (fossil fuels)) and renewable (crops, and

animal products) insufficient way of farming (energy food). Farming is NOT SUSTAINALE DEPENDS TOO HEAVILY ON FOSSIL FUELS AND CONRIBUTES TO AIR POLLUTION

SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE – IPM & ORGANIC FARMING Integrated Pest Management (IPM) integrate eliminate use of

pests, no biological control avoid use altogether Control Intro natural enemies (stink bugs), synthetic sex

attractants (male gypsy moths) Irradiation infertility as means of controlling pest management Pathogens disease causing spray on moths and butterflies, plant

breeding, build in resistance to pests

Organic Farming Silent Spring (book) 1962 public interest in organic methods Farming use crop rotation, legume crops (alfalfa) to put Nitrogen

back into the soil Biotechnology used to fix Nitrogen capacity from the atmosphere Organic Farmers use animal manure, leach ground, organic residues

as mulch Cultivation intercropping (grow alternate rows) to increase nutrients 2-7 years to clean chemicals, no business during that time Organic Farming lower cultivation costs but higher prices

SOIL EROSION AND CONSERVATION

Soil Erosion occurs when soil is weakened by the loss of humus nutrients and is removed by the action of wind or water.

Maintain Soil as a renewable source conditions:First- most soils should NOT be exposed to

heavy rainfall The hummus in the layer should be

gradually renewed by decaying vegetation otherwise rich fertile soil may take several hundreds of years to develop it can also be destroyed in a couple years or even days if not taken care of.

SOIL EROSION AND CONSERVATIONNUTRIENT DEPLETION

Soil ecosystem heavily depends on decomposition of organic material.

Nutrients can be used again by plants (recycled)

As successive crops are removed by farmers even rich soils like in the prairies decline in fertility.

Countries cannot afford to restore fertility = Nutrient depletion

In many parts of Asia and Africa the crops have been exhausted due to continuous cropping

Main fertilizer is cattle manure but often dried and burned for fuel rather than fertilizer

SOIL EROSION AND CONSERVATION

Occurs in semi arid or arid areas where the vegetation cover is removed or reduced

Farmers use dry farming techniques to converse moisture

• Trash farming or stubble mulching and they would leave stubble on the harvest for protection

• Strip farming where crops are grown in strips across the line of prevailing winds

• Shelter belts or windbreaks are to reduce wind speed

Moving water = enormous erosion power

The worst soil erosion is when vegetation is removed from sloping areas with heavy rainfall which leads to gully erosion (Southern U.S. & Canada(

Sheet erosion is the gradual removal of top soil on sloping land

Many soil programs were set up in the 1930’s such as the PFRA-prairie farm rehabilitation administration

Solutions• Contour ploughing• Stream control• Gully re-vegetation and

reforestation

Wind Erosion Water Erosion

SOIL EROSION AND CONSERVATIONREDUCTION WAYS IN DEVELOPING NATIONS

World’s poorest countries are trying to overcome the problem of soil erosion

Population pressure and the growth of cash crops to pay interest on foreign debts have hindered the process

CIDA- Canadian international development agency helps the developing countries with soil erosion

NGO’s also provide some practical help The best solution must be cheap and require

only low levels of technology

DESERTIFICATION – SERIOUS PROBLEM FACING CIVILIZATIONS

WE (human activities) have caused the desert to expand

20% of earth’s land surface contains over 80 million people are threatened by desertification

The united nations conference on desertification UNCOD was held on 1977 in Kenya, ten years later resolution to the problem have barely been solved

Twenty one million hectares of once productive land are still being lost each year throughout the world

NORTHERN CONIFEROUS RAIN FORESTS Out of Canada’s 463 000 000 ha of forest most of it is

Northern Coniferous (boreal) forest. The warmer and more south of the forest the larger the

trees Pine = main species in the forest in Ontario and Quebec On the coast of B.C there is a larger growing season due to

the heavy precipitation causing rapid growth of trees Canada has 40% of the worlds northern forests Ontario established the principle of sustained yield in the

1929 Pulpwood Act The annual allowable cut (AAC) is a method to sustain

trees Best time for cutting a tree is at the mature stage Our forests provide us with many resources for ex. Water

management, fishing and recreation co-existing with forestry

NORTHERN CONIFEROUS RAIN FORESTS

Replaced? AAC (Annual Allowable Cut) is most likely to be

reduced when the period of cutting old forests are over

BC forests have a inventory of 4.5 billion cubic meters of timber which is over 140 years old

Some reforested land new growth has failed because of soil erosion of poor planting

Survival rate of seedlings in B.C is 73%

Is the ecosystem being preserved? Soil productivity is being reduced Long term soil can be threatened by soil erosion

and by a loss of fungi

NORTHERN CONIFEROUS RAIN FORESTS

Clear cutting or selective logging? Clear Cutting: where all trees in a certain area are completely

wiped out Selective Logging: where only certain trees are taken out Selective logging is not a good method for areas with large

trees There has been complains about clear cutting being taken

place in areas which are too large A solution is to clear cut in smaller areas even though it is

more expensive

Should old growth forests be preserved? The Carmanah Valley in BC: was about to be logged, but they

found a bunch of groves of giant Sitka spruce trees, which are one of the biggest spruce trees. They eventually planned to save the grove trees but take out the rest, but eventually compromised to half of it being logged and other half being a park.

NORTHERN CONIFEROUS RAIN FORESTS

The role of Silviculture is the science of growing trees Offers genetically improved trees Trees would grow faster and be more

resistant to pests and diseases The economic importance of forestry in Canada Forestry stands for 15% of Canada’s exports Forestry has provides 780 000 Canadians

with a job

TROPICAL RAIN FORESTS 1/3 of the earth’s surface is forested, an

important source for new, raw materials, recreational areas etc.

The tropical rain forest ecosystem is the most productive, varies and fragile on earth

No trees = Soil Erosion = Soil Infertility

Why is the rain forest being destroyed? Worldwide demand for timber South America is the important source of tropical

hardwoods In Central America 2/3 of the loss of forest have

been caused by cattle farming

TROPICAL RAIN FORESTS – CONSEQUENCES OF FURTHER DESTRUCTION

Possible climatic changes The burning of tropical rain forests adds 2 or 3 billion

times of carbon per year to the atmosphere Deforestation = increase in methaneLoss of plant and animal species The rain forest has about 3-4 million species of plants

and animals, clearing could result in extinction.The loss of winter habitats Millions of birds migrate to the rain forest, the loss of

the rain forest habitats will cause an environmental effect

Natives Hunt, fish, building materials, clothes, medicine are

relied on these forests

MINING – EXTRACTION OF MINERAL ORES/FOSSIL FUELS FROM UNDERGROUND TO AN EXTENT OF DISTURBING LAND SERVICES; MINING DISCHARGE TOXIC WASTE INTO RIVERS AND AQUIFERS HARMING THE SURFACE OF THE LAND.

Requires of system of tunnels due to the depth of the minerals

Collapsing tunnels and inflammable gases and dust can cause lung disease

Collapsing tunnels = Sinking surface of the land and buildings

Accumulation of Wastes

A large surface pit is dug, can be a source of dust and noise disturbing communities

Millions of tonnes of rock is moved around allowing low grade ores to be mined, Less than 1 percent of many based metals contain ore

Produce a lot of waste and H20 reservoirs that allow mining waste to accumulate (Tailings Ponds), contains toxic such as cyanide

A huge risk of contaminated water leaking into rivers and underground water surface

Mining cannot be avoided, but returning waste into mines land can eventually be restored

Underground (Dangerous)

Open Pit/Strip (Less Fatal)

URBANIZATION

Towns and cities grow quickly in terms of population and area

Much farmland is converted into urban areas by being consumed by houses, roads and factories

More money can be obtained from industries and residential development

Farmers are offered more money for their land than what they make

Only hope is careful strategies and good stable laws Agriculture and land reserves policy was established by

BC government to limit the transformation of farmland to urban uses

In BC industrial waste sewage results an increase of pollutants in Fraser river and endangering human health and aquatic lifehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9AZfwfyATI

Wild Fires in Alberta and

Manitoba

Where? Alberta (Bonnyville Area) Manitoba (Badger)

When? Started approximately May 12th 2012,

last update was May 15th and the fire did not seem as if it was going down anytime soon.

What? Due the weather conditions the wildfires have been

spreading very rapidly. 12 families in Alberta Bonnyville had to evacuate as the fire was approaching them. For the village of Badger in Manitoba 6 families got some good news and could go home to gather up some belongings. There are currently 150 firefighters trying to take town this wild fire. Highway 211 was closed for a period of time due to poor visibility caused by the smoke of the wild fire.

Why? The main reason of these fires

happening is the warm temperature, strong winds and the dry conditions.

Questions Since we are so close to Alberta, How

do you think this incident will affect us? and the industries, families in Alberta?

As a community, how can we prevent these kind of disasters from occuring?

Relations with Land Resources A major land resource we use in Canada is the forestry

industry. This is a main export for Canada and provides many Canadians with jobs. When there is a forest fire it burns down many of the timber trees which could’ve been logged and put to proper use rather then being burned to the ground and taking away a major resource of ours.