Is it Ecologically Sustainable Development?

A recent land management project in Queensland saw agricultural land holders attend a series of workshops aimed at educating cattle farmers on new methods of environmentally sustainable grazing.

Farmers in the region have begun implementing changes to their land such as planting hundreds of large trees to act as shade for their cattle; improving the processes of rotating their cattle more regularly; and changing their current fences to wild-life friendly fencing, which will positively impact native marsupial species numbers.

The changes made by landowners positively impacts which of the Earth's spheres?

• the lithosphere, due to the improved carbon sequestration that the hundreds of new trees will provide

• the hydrosphere, due to the new habitat provided to native species by the hundreds of new trees

• the atmosphere, due to the improvement of soil quality that will occur from the regular cattle rotation

• the biosphere, due to the new wild-life friendly fences causing less harm to local marsupial species

This project considers intergenerational equity because

• future generations will benefit from the improved land care practices, and the current generation will benefit from reduced soil degradation

• future generations will benefit from the increased number of native marsupials, while the current generation will be negatively impacted from loss of available farming jobs

• future generations will be negatively impacted due to the increase in number of trees, while the current generation will benefit from reduced soil degradation

• future generations will be negatively impacted due to the increase in number of trees, while the current generation will be negatively impacted from loss of available farming jobs

Which of the following government organisations will benefit from this project?

• local media outlets

• indigenous community representatives

• local environmental care groups

• local council's Department of Environment and Land planning

Use the following information to answer Questions 4 to 6.

A construction and development company has purchased a 150 km2 parcel of native grassland that borders on a section of a national park and is also close to the local town. This section of land has been identified as being in a growth corridor for the region. There are old, disused school buildings on the parcel of land. The construction and development company has plans to convert the old school buildings and school grounds into 150 townhouses and a 400 dwelling housing estate. There are also plans to create a greenspace to be used as a recreational area, which includes open grassland, playgrounds, recreation reserves and a man-made lake and river system.

Question 4

The process that the development company can use to determine if this development project is worthwhile, that can take into account the overall positive and negative aspects on environmental, social, and economic factors is best described as:

• a life cycle analysis

• an environmental impact assessment

• a cost-benefit analysis

• an environmental risk analysis

As part of the planning approval of the project, the process that is undertaken that outlines the environmental effects of the development project, and provides alternative actions, can be best described as

• a life cycle analysis

• an environmental impact assessment

• a cost-benefit analysis

• an environmental risk analysis

This development project aims to address which of the following challenges to sustainability?

• food

• population

• water

• climate change

What is the predicted % increase in number of hikers, as per the tourism operator’s proposal?

• 50

• 60

• 100

• 200

An increase in numbers of hikers on the trail will negatively impact the

• lithosphere because of trampling of small plants and atmosphere because of increased plastic pollution ending up in the ocean

• atmosphere because of trampling of small plants and hydrosphere because of increased plastic pollution ending up in the ocean

• biosphere because of trampling of small plants and hydrosphere because of increased plastic pollution ending up in the ocean

• biosphere because of trampling of small plants and lithosphere because of increased plastic pollution ending up in the ocean

The operator of the project states that this project will meet the sustainability principle of efficiency of resource use. Which of the following would not help in meeting this principle?

• asking hikers to pay an additional tourist tax as part of their fee for using the cabins

• using previously cleared land as the site for the sleeping cabins

• using sustainability harvested plantation timber as the building material for the sleeping cabins

• setting a solar system onto the roof of all sleeping cabins for the generation of electricity

Environmental Protection