Frequently Asked QuestionsIs NSF similar to Keyline?
“Keyline” is an engineering water manipulation process that does not consider the natural water system in the landscape. Soil fertility is distributed in a vital way for a sustainable landscape. Plants are the landcarers, they make good soil and maintain a healthy balance. The first few centimetres grass will dominate. In many cases “Keyline” would disrupt these processes.
Can NSF be used on steeper land? One of the most important components of NSF is to use plants to strip and accumulate fertility and then relocate fertility (plant material) to a higher point. Air and sunlight are the only sustainable resources converted to organic products by plants that a farmer can then recycle to saleable produce. Therefore the greater the green surface area over time and space the greater the sustainable production of products. Plants manage the landscape hydrology on floodplains and steeper
land as well e.g. one tonne of organic material can hold five tonnes
of water. Does NSF work where there is no river or creek? Yes. NSF manages landscape hydrology and the plants which manage and contribute organic compounds to it. The Australian landscape did not evolve hard footed animals that
disrupt the landscape hydrology. It relied on plants to manage water
and sedimentation and therefore evolved special patterns. The plants’
most important function is to replace surface fertility and concentrate
compounds essential for life. Can native plants be used exclusively? For me the jury is out. Plants created the environment for the animals. However, 200 species of animals plus agriculture, roads and buildings have been introduced. Potentially there needs to be plants to compensate for these changed
conditions. Can NSF be used in an urban landscape? The Australian landscape was required to purify water in the shortest
distance with the least amount of water. Urban runoff can therefore
be managed the way our landscape managed and purified water. Are the artificial structures used in NSF sustainable? The chain-of-ponds systems were maintained by biological structures.
Those structures more often evolved from debris from flood events.
The NSF structures are designed to duplicate those natural development
cycles. What is the economic viability of NSF? The environment relies on recycling energy produced by photosynthesis e.g. a rainforest increases it’s biodiversity and productivity by recycling that energy in very short cycles. Industry assesses economic potential by costing materials into factory; cost of production in factory; then sale and profit margin of products. Accountants assess agricultural production by examining the last five or ten year’s production. This method is assessing an environmental mining operation and makes no attempt to assess reserves or aspects of sustainable production. NSF relies on the cost free environmental functions of accumulating
organic reserves to increase fertility . |
