The geological characteristics and rainfall intensity conditions of the hillsides that are occupied by small farmers can indicate the extent of exposure and vulnerability to environmental degradation. Unsound agronomic practices of small-scale farmers undoubtedly contribute to the degradation of rural areas. The concerns of the small farmers are associated with their unbridled search for survival and the need for fuel and access to land resources and this affects how they use natural resources and the related environmental risks. Preoccupied with this set of assumptions the true relationship between farm practices and ecology and the environmental effects of the large-scale sector are often minimised and in some cases dismissed. Little attention has been paid to the loss of biological diversity, ecological disruption and the irreversible modification of the natural landscape by large mono-cropping of sugarcane and banana.
Current concerns are of course on protecting the environment from further uncontrolled degradation.
However, pinpointing this issue can alert current and future large-scale developers about their potential impact on the environment and biodiversity. New opportunities in the liberalised international trade arena has made coffee a big agribusiness. The extraordinary profitability of the product, and its limited growing area arising from the registration of the name as an appellation of origin, has encouraged farmers to clear land on excessively steep slopes with thin soils. Since 1980 over 5000 acres of coffee have been planted in the Blue Mountains by large farmers, replacing some of the most biodiverse habitats in the mountains. Mono-cropping on the steep slopes of the mountain has also exposed the soil to excessive rates of erosion.