Soil Security for Australia

John McLean Bennett, Alex McBratney, Damien Field, Darren Kidd, Uta Stockmann, Craig Liddicoat and Samantha Grover
Additional contact information
John McLean Bennett: Soil Science Australia, P.O. Box 55, Bridgewater 5155, South Australia, Australia
Alex McBratney: Soil Science Australia, P.O. Box 55, Bridgewater 5155, South Australia, Australia
Damien Field: Soil Science Australia, P.O. Box 55, Bridgewater 5155, South Australia, Australia
Darren Kidd: Soil Science Australia, P.O. Box 55, Bridgewater 5155, South Australia, Australia
Uta Stockmann: Soil Science Australia, P.O. Box 55, Bridgewater 5155, South Australia, Australia
Craig Liddicoat: Soil Science Australia, P.O. Box 55, Bridgewater 5155, South Australia, Australia
Samantha Grover: Soil Science Australia, P.O. Box 55, Bridgewater 5155, South Australia, Australia

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 12, 1-15

Abstract: Soil Security is an emerging sustainability science concept with global application for guiding integrated approaches to land management, while balancing ecosystem services, environmental, social, cultural, and economic imperatives. This discussion paper sets the scene for an Australian Soil Security framework as an example of how it might be developed for any country, defining the key issues and justification for Soil Security, as well as detailing implementation requirements and benefits; two examples of beneficial outcomes are provided in terms of facilitating decommoditization of agricultural products and the impact of urban encroachment on productive land. We highlight research gaps, where new knowledge will contribute to well-rounded approaches that reflect differing stakeholder perspectives. We also provide key nomenclature associated with a potential Soil Security framework so that future discussions may use a common language. Through this work we invite scientific and policy discourse with the aim of developing more informed responses to the myriad of competing demands placed on our soil systems.

Keywords: ecosystem services; land management; food security; fibre security; land use; land planning; natural capital; social capital; farming systems (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/12/3416/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/12/3416/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:12:p:3416-:d:241749

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().