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.
General
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