Overview

This book provides a comprehensive environmental history of how Australia’s rainforests developed, the influence of Aborigines and pioneers, farmers and loggers, and of efforts to protect rainforests, to help us better understand current issues and debates surrounding their conservation and use. While interest in rainforests and the movement for their conservation are often mistakenly portrayed as features of the last few decades, the debate over human usage of rainforests stretches well back into the nineteenth century. In the modern world, rainforests are generally considered the most attractive of the ecosystems, being seen as lush, vibrant, immense, mysterious, spiritual and romantic. Rainforests hold a special place; both providing a direct link to Gondwanaland and the dinosaurs and today being the home of endangered species and highly rich in biodiversity. They are also a critical part of Australia’s heritage. Indeed, large areas of Australian rainforests are now covered by World Heritage Listing. However, they also represent a dissonant heritage. What exactly constitutes rainforest, how it should be managed and used, and how much should be protected are all issues which remain hotly contested. Debates around rainforests are particularly dominated by the contradiction of competing views and uses – seeing rainforests either as untapped resources for agriculture and forestry versus valuing and preserving them as attractive and sublime natural wonders. Australia fits into this global story as a prime example but is also of interest for its aspects that are exceptional, including the intensity of clearing at certain periods and for its place in the early development of national parks. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of Environmental History, Australian History and Comparative History.

Full Product Details

Author:   Warwick Frost
Publisher:   Taylor & Francis Ltd
Imprint:   Routledge
Weight:   0.453kg
ISBN:  

9780367086978

ISBN 10:   0367086972
Pages:   234
Publication Date:   13 July 2020
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Tertiary & Higher Education
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us.

Table of Contents

Fire and Rain: Rainforests, Settler Societies and Frontiers From Regenwald to Rainforest: Changing Terminology and Meanings Gondwanan, Aboriginal or European Rainforests? The Evolution and Distribution of Rainforests European Settlement of Australia’s Wet Frontier, 1788-1914 Clearing the Rainforests: Techniques, Origins and Challenges The Environmental Impact of Clearing: Regrowth, Pests and Secondary Clearance Butter (and Sugar): The Search for a Sustainable Staple Chinese and Pacific Islanders: The White Frontier and the Other, 1880-1920 ‘My Love Is Otherwise’: The Fascination with Rainforests, 1820-1914 Forest Conservation, Water Supply and Transport: Tensions between Governments and Farmers Rainforest National Parks and Scenic Reserves: Origins, Developments and International Comparisons, 1872-1928 The Lamington Plateau: The World’s First Large Rainforest National Park Australia Unlimited? Conflicting Visions of Farming, Forestry and Conservation in Uncertain Times, 1918-1939 Afterword: 1939 and Beyond Appendix A: The Making of The Land of the Lyre Bird Appendix B: Common and Scientific Names of Plants

Reviews

Frost provides an ecologically informed human history of the rain forests of Australia, from the far north of Queensland to the southern island of Tasmania. [The] main focus is the impact of settlers, white and others, on Aboriginals ecologically, agriculturally, and culturally. He also emphasizes how rain forests have shaped the modern Australian imagination. Frost nicely fills a gap, adopting an interdisciplinary approach that draws from history, literature, and tourism studies, while not ignoring the basics of biology and ecology. D. S. Azzolina, University of Pennsylvania, USA, in an excerpt from the April 2022 issue of CHOICE.

Author Information

Warwick Frost is Professor of Tourism, Heritage and the Media at La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia. His research interests include environmental history, comparative economic history and the history of national parks and zoos.

Tab Content 6

Author Website:  

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

No review item found!

Add your own review!

Countries Available

All regions