National Soil Strategy

WA Soil Health Strategy

The Western Australian Soil Health Strategy sets the strategic direction that will guide policy, research, investment, and on-ground actions that support the management, protection, improve the partnerships and improvement of soil functions and associated ecosystem services for the next 10 years within WA.

The Strategy reflects the high value that industry, communities, and government place on soil health and aims to:

• support landholders and service providers (researchers, consultants, natural resource management groups, grower groups and associations, government officers) to understand the guiding principles of soil health and to plan and resource their key activities appropriately
• support soil health management practices that provide environmental, economic, and social benefits to WA
• develop community-wide understanding of the overall policy direction and management of the state’s agricultural, horticultural, and pastoral soils
• identify the responsibilities of landholders and government in addressing emerging soil health issues and challenges, so as to prioritise future investment in soil health.

Five focus goals

• Goal 1: Adoption of farming and pastoral best practice so that WA soils are sustainably managed to suit land capability and soil type, and provide ecosystem services and economic returns to landholders.
• Goal 2: Wide dissemination of rigorous scientific and economic assessments for new, emerging and innovative farming systems for land manager adoption to improve soil health.
• Goal 3: Soil health condition tracked and monitored with data accessible to landholders and the wider community so that on-farm and larger scale land degradation can be addressed.
• Goal 4: Widespread understanding of WA government policy that enables landholders, community and industry to meet their responsibilities to conserve and manage the soil and land resources in WA.
• Goal 5: Implementation of agricultural, pastoral, and horticultural developments that sustain soil health, served by land suitability assessments and landscape monitoring and reporting.