Final answer:
The failure of colonial soil conservation programs can be attributed to ineffective community engagement, lack of multidisciplinary approaches, and misguided policies due to faulty perceptions about local land use.
Step-by-step explanation:
Mackenzie discusses several reasons for the failure of colonial soil conservation programs. Among these reasons is an ineffective communication and engagement with the communities that were meant to implement the conservation practices. Without adequate involvement and participation from local farmers, indigenous peoples, and land managers, these programs failed to consider local knowledge and practices, leading to resistance and lack of adoption of the proposed conservation measures.
Additionally, there was often a lack of collaboration between various stakeholders such as conservation biologists, agroecologists, agronomists, social scientists, and policy-makers. This lack of multidisciplinary approaches to research and management hindered the development of sustainable management strategies. Lastly, faulty perceptions by policymakers led to conservation policies that were misguided and did not reflect the actual patterns of land use and changes in forest cover as demonstrated through remote sensing and photo analysis.