The lower Georges River, on Dharawal and Dharug lands, was a place of fishing grounds, swimming holes and picnics in the early twentieth century. But this all changed after World War II, when rapidly expanding industry and increasing population fell heaviest on this river, polluting its waters and destroying its bush. Local people campaigned to defend their river. They battled municipal councils, who were themselves struggling against an explosion of garbage as population and economy changed. In these blues (an Australian term for conflict), it was mangroves and swamps that became the focus of the fight. Mangroves were expanding because of increasing pollution and early climate change. Councils wanted to solve their garbage problems by bulldozing mangroves and bushland, dumping garbage and, eventually, building playing fields. So they attacked mangroves as useless swamps that harboured disease. Residents defended mangroves by mobilising ecological science to show that these plants nurtured immature fish and protected the river’s health. These suburban resident action campaigns have been ignored by histories of the Australian environmental movement, which have instead focused on campaigns to save distant ‘wilderness’ or inner-city built environments. The Georges River environmental conflicts may have been less theatrical, but they were fought out just as bitterly. And local Georges River campaigners – men, women and often children – were just as tenacious. They struggled to ‘keep bushland in our suburbs’, laying the foundation for today’s widespread urban environmental consciousness. Cover: Ruth Staples was a courageous Georges River campaigner who lived all her life around Lime Kiln Bay at Oatley West. She kept on fighting to regenerate the river until her death, aged 90, in 2020.
On 3 November 2007, the Royal Zoological Society of NSW held its annual forum, with the topic being The natural history of Sydney. It has remained as the title of this book. The program contained the following introduction as the theme of the forum and it has remained as the theme for this book: “Sydney has a unique natural history, providing a home for iconic animals and plants while remaining a global city. It captured the imagination of prominent naturalists and inspired visits and collecting trips to the infant colony of New South Wales in the late 1790s and early to late 1800s. From these collections flowed great descriptive works detailing the new and unusual animals and plants of the antipodes. Gould, Owen, Huxley, Peron, Banks and many others recounted new and evocative flora and fauna. Many collecting trips for the great museums and institutions in Europe began in Sydney. Sydney still continues to engage naturalists and those grappling with the current drama of climate change and conservation. The Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales, founded in Sydney in 1879, is a product of the grand 19th century tradition of natural history, with a particular emphasis on animal life. Sydney is also home to some of Australia’s oldest and finest institutions, such as the Australian Museum, the University of Sydney and the Royal Botanic Gardens. Throughout Sydney, there are places where the natural habitat has not been supplanted by urban growth, and the interest in Sydney’s endemic flora and fauna remains strong. This forum draws on a magnificent interdisciplinary vision while continuing to employ all the modern tools in the investigation and communication of Sydney’s natural history. It reflects a resurgence in local history and pursues the natural history of our harbour-side city in a modern framework.” The day of the forum was a captivating display of the diversity of the fauna of Sydney, both native and introduced, and its varied habitats, and of the diverse ways of appreciating natural history, including the history of natural history. Also on display was the depth of scholarship lying behind each of the presentations. The subject clearly has a profound hold on many professional biologists, historians and those keen to conserve their local area, but if the day is any guide, there are vastly more people living in or visiting Sydney who have more than a passing interest in this topic. The subject matter ranged from the history of institutions engaged in natural history, through animal groups as diverse as reptiles and cicadas, to ideas on how to see Sydney as a natural setting. Other papers dealt with the use by Aboriginal peopleof the native biota in terms of fishing and being displayed in rock paintings, before the arrival of the colonists. There is little doubt that this theme could run to 10 volumes, not just this one, but the diversity of ideas, skills and organisms displayed in this one book will serve as a guide to what lies beyond these pages. A considerable effort was made by each author to present their material as both interesting and accurate. The material is built on lifetimes of sustained effort to study, record and communicate findings and ideas. It is also built on the lifetime work of our predecessors, who laboured to find and record the natural history of Sydney. We are indebted to their efforts. This book records not only the outcome of a successful day of presentations, but more importantly the lifelong scholarship of those authors in each of the specialist fields. Not only have the authors been absorbed by documenting the biodiversity, they have included studies, or intelligent speculation, on the factors which have impacted on this diversity since Cook sailed along the NSW coast in 1770. The Macquarie Dictionary, e.g. the revised third edition, defines ‘natural history’ as ‘the science or study dealing with all objects in nature’, and ‘the aggregate of knowledge connected with such knowledge’. This makes natural history of wide interest to the entire community of Sydney, both residents and visitors. However, we have specialised to the extent that we have focused principally on fauna, the RZS being a zoological society. Nevertheless, plant communities are recognised as part and parcel of the natural history of Sydney, as is a sense of the geography of the city, with its magnificent harbour, sandstone backdrop and spectacular national parks surrounding the city. Also of great importance is how others in the past have seen the natural history of what is now called Sydney. All these ideas are captured in this book. One of the strengths of being a naturalist, i.e. ‘one who is versed in or devoted to natural history, especially a zoologist or botanist’ (Macquarie Dictionary), is the opportunity to look across the individual disciplines, be it a specialist in birds, mammals or polychaetes, a taxonomist, or an ecologist or writer. Their advantage is the ability to see the richness of a place such as Sydney. Consequently, most botanists and zoologists have one or two highly specialised skills, but a keen interest in the broader picture and can thus appreciate the importance of, for example, cave art or fish diversity in the harbour, and recognise that the vertebrate fauna of Sydney has changed over the 222 years since European settlement, and no doubt the invertebrate fauna has changed although it is less easily assessed. Our aim in this book is to draw attention to the natural history of Sydney for scholars, as well as those who have the task of looking after a particular area, such as within a local government area, or a particular taxon, such as reptiles or fish, and those who have the opportunity to conserve areas, taxa or institutions through their employment or legislative responsibilities. It is also for teachers and lecturers, colleagues in other cities and towns in Australia, and those with a keen interest in managing our urban wildlife, our cultural heritage or promoting the profound value of our natural heritage within a city landscape. It also displays the importance of museum and herbarium collections in documenting the changes since 1770.
In this textbook we see heritage in action in indigenous and vernacular communities, in urban development and regeneration schemes, in expressions of community, in acts of nostalgia and memorialization and counteracts of forgetting, in museums and other spaces of representation, in tourism, in the offices of those making public policy, and in the politics of identity and claims toward cultural property. Whether renowned or local, tangible or intangible, the entire heritage enterprise, at whatever scale, is by now inextricably embedded in “value”. The global context requires a sanguine approach to heritage in which the so-called critical stance is not just theorized in a rarefied sphere of scholarly lexical gymnastics, but practically engaged and seen to be doing things in the world.
Produced by the Australian Beach Safety and Management Program, a joint project of the Coastal Studies Unit, University of Sydney and Surf Life Saving Australia Ltd.
Australian vegetation has interested botanists and naturalists since Europeans first encountered Australia and its plant life. This 1994 edition of Australian Vegetation reviews the vegetation of the continent as a whole. In the introductory section, chapters on phytogeography, vegetation history and alien plants set the scene for further sections covering all the major vegetation types. The plant life of extreme Australian habitats is also discussed, and the book closes with a chapter on the conservation of Australian vegetation. Each chapter, written by experts on each particular habitat type, will inform and stimulate the interests of students and professional botanists, especially those fortunate enough to see for themselves the unique vegetation and flora of Australia.
This book is an original contribution to literary geography and commentaries on the work of David Ireland. It plots the relationship between the spaces and places of 1970s Australian capitalism as it evolves through Ireland’s 1971 Miles Franklin prize-winning novel The Unknown Industrial Prisoner. In particular, the book theorises the relationship between space and place in literature through two highly innovative arguments: a focus on the spatial unconscious as a means to assess and track the spatiality of capitalism in the novel form; and the articulation of a regime of space through the perceived, conceived and lived constitution of space. Drawing together concepts from radical geography and structural Marxist literary theory, it explores the dominance of the regime of abstract space in the Australian context. The text also examines the nature and possibilities of place-based strategies of resistance, and concludes by suggesting opportunities for future research and plotting the ways in which The Unknown Industrial Prisoner continues to speak to contemporary Australia.
This is the first of a series of books describing exciting birdwatching locations in Australia. The NSW-ACT Guide is arguably the most comprehensive compendium of birding sites in the State available to date. Not only the standard, well-known locations are covered but also some interesting places known only to a few or newly discovered by ourselves. The book series is intended for both Australian and overseas birders. We hope it will become an essential field companion to a birding enthusiast. In today's time-poor society, the ability to maximise your bird finds in an unfamiliar area in a typically short vacation time available, should be a serious help. For each site, at the minimum, the access details, habitat description, site facilities and key avifauna are addressed. Most data is based on personal records, cross-checked and augmented with the verified sightings reported online. The book is divided into regions including greater Sydney, Hawkesbury, Hunter region, Illawarra, Southern Highlands, South-East NSW, Mid North Coast, Northern Rivers, Western Slopes and Tablelands, Riverina region, Central West NSW, Far West NSW and Australian Capital Territory. The book is richly illustrated with photographs of birds and bird habitats. Book 2: Australian Good Birding Guide: Tasmania Book 3: Australian Good Birding Guide: Victoria
This third edition of the bestselling Remote Sensing for Geologists: A Guide to Image Interpretation is now titled Remote Sensing for Geoscientists: Image Analysis and Integration. The title change reflects that this edition applies to a broad spectrum of geosciences, not just geology; stresses that remote sensing has become more than photointerpretation; and emphasizes integration of multiple remote sensing technologies to solve Earth science problems. The text reviews systems and applications, explains what to look for when analyzing imagery, and provides abundant case histories to illustrate the integration and application of these tools. See What’s New in the Second Edition: Broader coverage to include integration of multiple remote sensing technologies Expanded with significant new illustrations in color and reviews of new satellites and sensors Analysis of imagery for geobotanical remote sensing, remote geochemistry, modern analogs to ancient environments, and astrogeology The book covers how to initiate a project, including determining the objective, choosingthe right tools, and selecting imagery. It describes techniques used in geologic mapping and mineral and hydrocarbon exploration, image analysis used in mine development and petroleum exploitation, site evaluation, groundwaterdevelopment, surface water monitoring, geothermal resource exploitation, and logistics. It also demonstrates how imageryis used to establish environmental baselines; monitor land, air, and water quality; maphazards; and determine the effects of global warming. The many examples of geologic mapping on other planets and the moon highlight how to analyze planetary surface processes, map stratigraphy, and locate resources. The book then examines remote sensing and the public, geographic information systems and Google Earth, and how imagery is used by the media, in the legal system, in public relations, and by individuals. Readers should come away with a good understanding of what is involved in image analysis and interpretation and should be ableto recognize and identify geologic features of interest. Having read this book, they should be able to effectively use imagery in petroleum, mining, groundwater, surface water, engineering, and environmental projects.
