Book Introduction

After more than 35 years of experience Alan Lauder is offering solutions to these following questions

• How does carbon enter and leave the landscape?
• What is the role of carbon?
• What issues are currently not associated with carbon that should be?
• How do Animales, plants and the soil all interact within the carbon cycle.

Carbon management has always been important, but with climate change, it's importance is going to increase even further. It is increased carbon that provide the landscape with increased resilience. The following chapters outline some of the changes climate change will bring, to enable us to appreciate what we have to adapt to.

After all the good times and bad times, Alan's conclusion is that nature is fair but unforgiving. Nature sets the rules, but we have not enhanced our own well-being through disregarding all the carbon on offer. For thosse farmers who recognise the importance of carbon, the impacts of drought are reduced, business profits are improved, and the natural environment is truly improved for future generations to appreciate and build upon.

We are making all of the chapters of the book available free due to the importance of seeing as many get access to it as possible, especially rural producers who are currently suffering economic hardship and as the custodians of much of the land, are the ones who can implement the necessary changes.

The chapters of the book have been written sequentially to build from the basics through increasing levels of complexity before integrating all of these into a systems approach to changed grazing management.

In the real world, people have to make a living, so debates need to keep this in mind. The other parameter is that functional landscapes are more profitable. By taking a broader approach to science, the solutions proposed cater for the needs of rural producers as well as the rest of society.

At the end of the day, it is the rural produce4rs who are the custodians of much fo the landscape. It is their actions that determine the health of the landscape, with nature often a helpless bystander.  When producers have the right philosophy, or legislation encourages them to work with nature, then we are all winners. Practical solutions are often based more on knowledge than expensive capital outlays. Life always comes down to "what's in it for me".

We think that there is something in this book for everyone in society.

To download a PDF version of the Introduction and Contents of "Carbon Grazing - the missing link" (file size 722Kb) click on the highlighted chapter title.

To purchase a hard copy version of "Carbon Grazing - the missing link" click on the highlighted book title.