Films Show Great Need For Soil Conservation

Chronicle (Levin), 2 July 1948, Page 2

Films Show Great Need For Soil Conservation

A grim propaganda campaign is being waged by the Soil Conservation and Rivers Control Councii, together with the Manajvatu Catchment Board, to awaken New Zealanders to the urgency of flood control and soil conservation. To further this end, a mobile fiim unit is touring the district and held a -showing of films, dealing With many flood and erosion problems, in the Te Horo Hall on Tuesday. It has been realised that floods ,may be regarded as the periodic discharge of chronic wounds linflicted on the land in the past. I These floods are the symptoms of ian organic disease of the land. |They are the consequences of violentiy aitering the vegetation and the soil during 'the past century. The discipiining of the land in [order to convert it from wilderness 'to farm land upset the balance 'between climate, slope and vegetation, achieved patiently by nature during mihions of years, with the consequent loss of stability of the soil itself. " i Inadequately protected upland country suffers increasing losses of soil by frost, wind and sheet and slip erosion. Such eroded areas cause greater run off and lead to further erosion in a never ending cycle from disaster to disaster. The achievement of the counch's aims will be the reducing of the violence of floods at any cost. This may be done in two ways, by use of vegetation and mechanically. Singly ;or in various combinations, these 'means can be used to stabilise the soil and control run off and rivers, i Among the many films which proyed of so much interest to the audience of farmers at Te Horo, one called "Assets .to Ashes'' portrayed the extensive darbage to .nature and exotic rorests in tne great flres of the summer of 1946 ;in the Taupo region. The fllm leads on to show the damage done by repeated burning, and how it creates soil erosion problems. It then deals with fire control and makes a plea to all those who use the open spaces to take the utmost care, and to actively help-in controlling fire. j Othe'r fiims displayea the Work of the couneil and catchment boards, .together with farmers on a subsiuy basis, in ta'ckling in a practical way the stream, gully, slip- and sheet erosion problems at Te Awa. Another fllm demonstrated the use of willows in' gully controi and gave a brief glimpSe of the role played by these trees in the rec'lamatibn of badly eroded gullies.