It's pretty well-established that analyzing land based on gross regional characteristics is a disaster for reasons like these - the relevance of a given patch of soil to erosion resistance or vegetation support can change massively over miles or even yards. Sometimes protecting 100 acres of exposed, average land is less useful than protecting a single acre of liminal ground that holds back stream or wind erosion, or helps to germinate the next 'stage' of vegetation.
What's totally new to me is the idea of going out and making seminal land like this. Finding it is hard, protecting it is harder, but making it? There's an idea that could actually be compatible with the sort of bulk-analysis development governments are capable of.
This seems to at least have the potential to really matter, and be far more usable than most grand environmental schemes.
Yes, it does seem so. Also, though I haven't checked the financial aspects, it seems like it could be done at somewhat low cost, and still be effective to some extent - e.g. not only the machine-driven imprinting, but might be possible to do it manually by humans (using some hand-operated tools, like even just spades/shovels, or something a bit more sophisticated). And that could be decided on a case-by-case basis depending on availability and cost of the human labor vs. cost of the imprinting machine (the tractor with an attachment or whatever it is).
It's pretty well-established that analyzing land based on gross regional characteristics is a disaster for reasons like these - the relevance of a given patch of soil to erosion resistance or vegetation support can change massively over miles or even yards. Sometimes protecting 100 acres of exposed, average land is less useful than protecting a single acre of liminal ground that holds back stream or wind erosion, or helps to germinate the next 'stage' of vegetation.
What's totally new to me is the idea of going out and making seminal land like this. Finding it is hard, protecting it is harder, but making it? There's an idea that could actually be compatible with the sort of bulk-analysis development governments are capable of.
This seems to at least have the potential to really matter, and be far more usable than most grand environmental schemes.