The Wild Life of Pesticides: Urban agriculture, institutional responsibility, and the future of biodiversity in Sydney's Hawkesbury-Nepean River

Plant, R; Walker, J; Rayburg, S; Gothe, J; Leung, T

The Wild Life of Pesticides: Urban agriculture, institutional responsibility, and the future of biodiversity in Sydney's Hawkesbury-Nepean River

Plant, R

Walker, J

Rayburg, S Gothe, J

Leung, T

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Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Australian Geographer, 2012, 43 (1), pp. 75 - 91
Issue Date:: 2012-03-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Plant, R https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3006-741X	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Walker, J https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0789-3457	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Rayburg, S	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Gothe, J https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0422-498X	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Leung, T	en_US
dc.date.issued	2012-03-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Australian Geographer, 2012, 43 (1), pp. 75 - 91	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	0004-9182	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/32223
dc.description.abstract	Agricultural chemicals are a notoriously intractable source of environmental pollution. Offering enhanced agricultural productivity, they simultaneously risk degrading the ecological basis upon which agriculture depends. This paper considers chemicalisation as a cause of the erosion of aquatic biodiversity and ecosystem resilience, focusing on the Hawkesbury-Nepean River and the small-scale horticulturalists who supply the city's fresh vegetable markets, working under the pressure of urbanisation, retail monopolies, indifferent land-use planning, and often without access to information about pesticide use in the languages they understand. Arguing that standard practices of 'risk management' are unable to adequately control chemical contamination, the paper presents findings from interviews with actors within the 'assemblage' of institutions with responsibility for agriculture, water quality, and environmental protection, in order to assess the effectiveness of pesticide governance in the Greater Sydney Basin. It appears that pesticide pollution is far from being tamed: it is rarely measured nor monitored, neither is it a priority of any particular agency. Arguing that public health, the long-term viability of local farming and the ecological well-being of the Hawkesbury-Nepean River are mutually consistent goals, we conclude that these vital elements of the common-weal are currently subject to a system of 'organised irresponsibility'. The paper concludes by proposing several ways forward. © 2012 Copyright Geographical Society of New South Wales Inc.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Australian Geographer	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1080/00049182.2012.649520	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Geography	en_US
dc.title	The Wild Life of Pesticides: Urban agriculture, institutional responsibility, and the future of biodiversity in Sydney's Hawkesbury-Nepean River	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	1	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	43	en_US
utslib.for	1205 Urban and Regional Planning	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/DVC (Research)
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/DVC (Research)/Institute For Sustainable Futures
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences/Social and Political Sciences Program
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building/School of Design
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Science
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Science/School of Life Sciences
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Strength - ISF - Institute for Sustainable Futures
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Strength - SIC - Strengthening Indigenous Communities
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access
pubs.issue	1	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	43	en_US

Abstract:

Agricultural chemicals are a notoriously intractable source of environmental pollution. Offering enhanced agricultural productivity, they simultaneously risk degrading the ecological basis upon which agriculture depends. This paper considers chemicalisation as a cause of the erosion of aquatic biodiversity and ecosystem resilience, focusing on the Hawkesbury-Nepean River and the small-scale horticulturalists who supply the city's fresh vegetable markets, working under the pressure of urbanisation, retail monopolies, indifferent land-use planning, and often without access to information about pesticide use in the languages they understand. Arguing that standard practices of 'risk management' are unable to adequately control chemical contamination, the paper presents findings from interviews with actors within the 'assemblage' of institutions with responsibility for agriculture, water quality, and environmental protection, in order to assess the effectiveness of pesticide governance in the Greater Sydney Basin. It appears that pesticide pollution is far from being tamed: it is rarely measured nor monitored, neither is it a priority of any particular agency. Arguing that public health, the long-term viability of local farming and the ecological well-being of the Hawkesbury-Nepean River are mutually consistent goals, we conclude that these vital elements of the common-weal are currently subject to a system of 'organised irresponsibility'. The paper concludes by proposing several ways forward. © 2012 Copyright Geographical Society of New South Wales Inc.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/32223