How to Improve Human Impacts to the Outback Desert

The Australian Outback provides humans with many benefits. It provides the people of Australia with land for agriculture and ranging and also functions as an important source of revenue as a tourist destination. More importantly, however, is the Outback's exceptional degree of biodiversity. Being isolated from the rest of the world for millions of years, the Australian outback has great of amounts of endemic flora and fauna. Accordingly, it is important that this region continues to strive as a unique ecosystem. To address the main issues affecting the well-being of the Australian Outback -- namely, the detrimental effects of invasive species, the threat of large and uncontrollable fires, and the degradation of land -- steps must be taken that will ensure that the Outback can maintain its high levels of biodiversity.

Dealing With Invasive Species
The most effective means of getting rid of invasive species in Australia is direct killing. Thus, shooting foreign pests such as rabbits is the most common and favorable method to control their populations (McKnight 331). Additionally, using poison to kill foreign species can help improve the status of threatened and endangered animals in the Outback (Short 296). The great initial degree of success of myxomatosis in killing rabbits testifies to the effectiveness of poison in dealing with large scale population growth of invasive species.

Controlling Bush Fires
Before the arrival of the Europeans, the native people of Australia, called aboriginals, lived in the Outback. These aboriginals lived sustainable lives in a desert environment in which vegetation is adapted to fire. To help regulate the Outback ecosystem, these aboriginals managed controlled fires that were relatively small in size (Yibarbuk 325). The arrival of Europeans resulted in the death and displacement of these aboriginals. Consequently, the fires in the Outback that were once smaller and more common, became much larger and destructive to plant life. To battle these high intensity bush fires and develop a more sustainable environment, people of the Outback need to create smaller fires to reduce litter buildup just as the aboriginals did before them (Yibarbuk 325).

An example of a controlled fire in Kimberly, Australia

(Image source: http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/journal/new-fire-plan-for-the-kimberley.htm)

Solving Australia's Land Degradation Issue
Finally, a solution to the Outback's land degradation would be to better manage the land so that it can be continually used by humans. Historically, a significant portion of Australia's Outback was overgrazed; sheep and cattle ate entire areas of land containing native plants resulting in the degradation of soil. Indeed, throughout the 1950s and 1960s, many scientists predicted that Australia's Outback would soon become a desert similar to the Sahara (Bickel 220). The prevent this, groups must work to make the Outback more habitable for humans by "enhancing knowledge for sustainable livelihoods, stronger remote settlements,  thriving regional economies, and increased human and social capital in arid and semi-arid Australia" (Davies 364). Both aboriginals and non-aboriginals alike must work together so that future generations can continue to live in the Outback.