Still, I*ve never met a farmer who undertakes his management with the
express purpose of degrading his or her land, similarly I*ve never met an
environmentalist who is taking a particular stance in order to destroy the
livelihoods of farming families. Individually, members of different interest
groups generally are prepared to admit that there is a lack of
misunderstanding on both sides and lament that under the current
adversarial socio-political system they have to overstate their case (and
further entrench their differences) in order to come to the bargaining
table. Perhaps the real challenges facing those who advocate
sustainability - such as those on this group - is to develop the
understanding, knowledge, forums and learning environments to better
inform and support more sustainable decision-making.
As I recall, the current Farm Bureau debate began with postings outlining
some positive initiatives from Hawaii and Maryland (involving the Bureau)
to meet these challenges. A number of other earlier messages on sanet
have described other cooperative initiatives between farmers and
scientists, the csa programmes represent another form of cooperation
and learning. In our own work in New Zealand we are working with the
community to develop processes to better align the planning and
management efforts of different segments of society (farmers,
environmentalists, policy makers, etc.) towards a more coordinated set
of environmental goals. Rather than further polarise positions, it would be
good to hear from more members of this group that are working on other
cooperative and learning-based initiatives.
William Allen
Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research
PO Box 282
Alexandra, NEW ZEALAND
Tel: +64-3-4489093
Fax: +64-3-4488160
E-mail: allenw@landcare.cri.nz