The Landscape of Australia - Essay Example

THE CULTURAL AND ECONOMIC IMPERATIVES DURING EURPOEANS IN THEIR ATTEMPTS TO MANAGE AND/OR MODIFY THE NATURAL LANDSCAPE OF AUSTRALIA 3rd OCTOBER, 2008 Landscape is the mode through which a link with the natural environment could be established. A positive relationship between the man and the nature can be maintained through Landscaping. The concept of Landscape becomes social when a specific community shares the same belief, values and norms. Landscape is not a static object which can be placed in a museum for display; it’s a creative art, a perception of life which keeps wavering from time to time, depending on the change in the environment. Economic and Cultural factors play a vital role in the execution of the phenomenon; culture determines the extent and ways to utilize the environmental resources while economic factors help in the maintenance of the community life standards and particular life styles. Landscape is a symbolic image depicting both the cultural and the economic perspectives. The history of European settlement of Australia has been under discussions from quite a long time, ranging from the toil of hardy pioneers to utilization or destruction of land. Australia saw its first pack of visitor’s way back in 1788, when 11 ships and 1500 invaders stepped on its shore (Cavanagh T, 1996). Since then many authors have realized the negative consequences in which Australia was seen trapped into and tried to contribute in the analyses and interpretation of the cultural and economic imperatives during Europeans in their attempts to manage and/or modify the natural landscape of Australia. One of them being Tim Bonyhady who in his famous literary work, ‘The Colonial Earth’ has revealed the fact that since many past years down the line, people have been raising the issues of defrayal of innate forests and annihilation of species of native animals with an alarming protection call by imposition of stringent rules and regulations by the law. A significant number of environmentalists were by artists by nature who deeply cherished the exquisiteness of the Landscape and the animal inhabitants. They figured it as a part of the natural heritage of the land. Culture has its own of affecting the Landscape. For instance if we study the life history of the renowned environmentalist Hancock, we’ll find that culture designs up the thinking cap of an individual. Being a son of a clergyman and heavily grounded to Christianity, Hancock gradually learned to adopt a parsimonious attitude towards spending money which later in his life helped him to appreciate and conserve the scarce natural resources. Among the major cultural and economic imperatives that were identified by the Europeans for managing the beautiful Landscapes were the most perilous of all the destruction of the forests which completely destroyed the beauty of the country and aggravated the devastating gush of water in heavy rainy seasons. The springs were dried up adding to the detrimentation of the natural resources. Australia faced a grave deadlock in protecting the Landscape, as in the past history land settlement was considered to be a prime cause of conflict between the man and the land. Australia confronted problems related to water conservation, especially dealing with the ancient mishandling of artesian bores in the parched and waterless regions of the country. Hancock pointed out the historic fact that sustained during the reign of Europeans who carelessly and in a slap dash fashion wasted valuable and precious artesian water. As a result when the damaged reached its peak and the Europeans realized that the outflow from the bores almost shrinked to the minimal did the settlers regarded it as precious and gradually undertook it as a renewable resource (Roberts S H, 1924). Issues were limitless, soil erosion with the flow of water created havoc by emergence of muddy waters. The Australian soil suffered the brunt of callousness of the European invaders to a large extent, which was unbearable. The country was economically hard hit by the deforestation most prominent in the nineteenth century which caused heavy losses to the economy on an enormous scale. Devastation of hundreds of acres of land was highlighted which could have been effectively utilized for cultivation and grazing. Issues such as lack of nutrional food and improper meals were related to the encouragement of agriculture to promote the conservation of natural resources and economic performance as well (Brandon, P.1984). Extinction of exotic species was one of the major impacts on the Australian environment. The ancient attitudes of the invaders towards the modification of the Landscape old natural one to the new unfriendly, hostile transformation certainly revealed no appreciation and pride in the nature of Australia. The makeover of a British Landscape definitely damaged the natural attraction of the country. Australia on the hole suffered extremely due to never quenching greed and ignorance of the European traders. From the cultural perspective, a major chunk of Australian population belongs to the street bed category. The pace, at which the sub urbanism and the domestication of the wild landscapes were forging ahead, sent out alarming signals. However, Hancock firmly believed that Australia’s inherited natural resources were self sufficient to sustain and support the growing number of human population in the country. Hancock’s belief had no statistical evidence for support; hence he withdrew back his views on the population front. While digging the cultural facts of the Australian past, one would find the evidences of the exploitation of the local people in the name of international entrepreneurships and British power (Proudfoot, H.B., 1979). The frustrations and tensions that arouse in land management during the European settlers time related to the cultural issues of race, caste, ethnicity, gender, age, health etc. they were the major reasons cropped up as socio-cultural dimension of the natural resource management (Wolfe P, 2001). In context to the Australian country such cultural issues were prolonged and persistent for a very long duration of time, covering hundreds of years (Stanley J, Clouston B, Binney J, July 2005). Cultural landscapes exhibit a relationship between different cultural features and the environment. Such relationships reveal the pattern of settlements and hence further interpretation can be deducted like occupation of the area etc. past researchers have found out that mining was an important activity that brought large numbers of Europeans into the Alpine and sub-alpine environments. Not to ignore the fact, that few environmentalists and colonists also regarded the invaders bond to the colonial landscape, with the intention to save it. The protection of the country’s native fauna and flora, water pollution , degradation and quality detrimentation of its pastoral lands, planning and improvement of its cities, preservation of attractive tourist sports, retention of public reserves and access to the foreshore were all major issue highlighted during the colonial era. Richard Atkins in 1975 stated that the negative impact of the constantly changing weather was the most critical environmental issue due to rapid developments observed in the country (World Heritage 2002) . The high movements of people, products, services and information had a deep impact on the landscape emphasizing on the changing requirements and preferences of people and their lifestyles. The shift in the movement also reflected the corresponding changes on the consumption, production, technological and political framework of the Australian economy. Few of the reasons were of utmost importance to study the phases on internal migration of Australia in 1788. Firstly, the population movement across Australia due to gold rushes, secondly high rate of rural to urban migration, thirdly establishment of manufacturing sector and lastly emergence of service sector. This era marked a significant number of invaders towards the warm rural coastline. In ‘Discovering Manora’, Hancock again reflected on his views of the history of the land use. The past settler’s culture depicted distinct characteristics such as there bent of mind towards exploring new pastures for their livestock (Douglas M R, 1988) . They had an urge to mint quick and easy money, not forgetting that each Australian society has its unique style. Hence, improper agricultural practices led to the detrimental affects to Australian environment. A major input in expansion of the pastoral industry in Australia was due to the erratic climatic changes. Apart from the above mentioned factors, use of fire as a fearsome tool, destruction of flaura and fauna resulted in major ecological imbalances. The economy was also inflicted with menace of diseases such as syphilis and influenza (Dailoo I S, Pannekoek F, 2008). Researches prove that the Acclimatization societies extended their hand in inviting the foreign species in the country which was an important issue in the nineteenth century, especially in Australian colonies. The acclimatization tends to communicate the influenced politics, settlement modes, and tenure of the European armies in the Australian economies. The naturalists, environmentalists and the landowners readily helped in the establishment of the acclimization societies to encourage flaura and fauna, mediating the transplantation of organisms. European invasion marked the advent of pitiful situation where animals and plants were unattended (Low T, 1999). Major loss was accustomed in form of bio-diversity in natural landscapes. The impact was also visible in the vegetation clearance, intensive developments and water diversion. Since European settlement, there has been a decline and loss of species of bird’s quails, finches, parrots etc. One third of the rain forest areas were severely destroyed by fire. Landscapes are changing in all parts of Australia loosing there productivity, especially the northern region. The most significant changes of all are the woody thickening which results in increased quantity of shrubs and trees. Grasslands are terribly affected. Even the sea levels have changed dramatically. Small lakes and water bodies were degraded. The foreign animals cause lot of mischief including the marine and the aquatic systems as well . Tyrell in his book, ‘True Gardens of the God’, exhibited the most critical environmental challenges in Australia during the 1860s related to consequences after the gold rushes. The invaders had negative consequences on all aspects including mining, grazing, and agriculture. The environmentalists took it up as a challenge to rebuild the disrupted environment into an idealized landscape. Exchange of plants, insects, personnel, technology, and ideas between countries affected by the environmental trauma like Australia and California, was a remarkable step towards reform movements in the country. True Gardens of the Gods highlights on the cultural impact on the Landscape which includes the traditional brunt of classifications such as race, class, and gender on the country’s environmental policy . Indigenous and customized regulations have directed the Australian environment for number of decades, furthering colonial dispossession and dislocation of the native owners has immensely contributed to the ecological disruptions of the environment. The current issue hovering over the mind of the environmentalists is the increasing number of the tourists to soar up the conflicts of land use, just to worsen up the highly quandary. Apart from tourism soaring unemployment rates, rapid land subdivision, sustainable population in regard to the availability of water and sewage infrastructure on the forefront of the latest discussions and debates having a close link with the economic and cultural imperatives during the Europeans management of landscape in Australia. One can conclude that Australia in the nineteenth century faced an ‘era of wreckage and destruction’ of the environment. Europeans without doubt, ruthlessly topsy turveyed the natural balance of nature which couldn’t be re-established or re-constructed for centuries gone and more to come. The invaders were responsible for creating wrecked havoc on the environment both intentionally and in lieu of the settlement process as well. However, Europeans did inflict positive enrichments in the Australian environment by adding up the count of people, animals and plants as well. Human beings in totality should act as a catalyst towards caring for the environment. Still the development products of environmental research are seriously lacking in Australia. Direct environmental changes would continue to accelerate in the coming decades. The modern technology is not apt for the environmental R&D field. Cultural balance with the technological expansion and advancements needs to be aligned. A new environmental act needs to be implemented which is less complicated, focuses on the more important issues of pesticides in cotton industry, conservation of natural systems and recourses, strategic land use, and environmental planning. Cultural protection is an obligation to be abided by all individual residing in Australia to modify the landscape. BIBLIOGRAPHY Brandon, P.1984. 'Wealdon Nature and the role of London in the nineteenth century artistc imagination', Journal of History Geography, Vol 10, pp. 53-74 Cavanagh T, September 1996, Views of the Australian Landscape - 3;Viewed on 3rd Oct, 2008, The First Settlers, http://asgap.org.au/APOL3/sep96-3.html CULTURAL LANDSCAPES: THE CHALLENGES OF CONSERVATION FERRARA, World Heritage 2002 Shared Legacy, Common Responsibility Associated Workshops 11-12 November 2002, http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0015/001508/150863eo.pdf Douglas M R, Reviewed work(s): Ecological Imperialism: The Biological Expansion of Europe, 900-1900 by Alfred W. Crosby, Journal of Interdisciplinary History, Vol. 18, No. 3 (Winter, 1988), pp. 489-491 , http://www.jstor.org/pss/203900?cookieSet=1  Dailoo I S, Pannekoek F, 2008, Nature and Culture: A New World Heritage Context, International Journal of Cultural Property (2008), Vol 15, P 25-47, http://journals.cambridge.org/download.php?file=%2FJCP%2FJCP15_01%2FS0940739108080077a.pdf&code=d63662845156764aead73b8e039e5e6c Proudfoot, H.B.,1979, 'Botany Bay, Kew and the Picturesque: Early Conceptions of the Australian Landscape', Journal of the Royal Australian Historical Society [Australia], vol. 65, no. 1, pp. 30-45 Roberts S H, W.K. Hancock, ‘Book Review’, History of Australian Land Settlement, Melbourne, Melbourne University Press, 1924, in The English Historical Review, vol.40, 1925, pp.290-292 Stanley J, Clouston B, Binney J, July 2005, Understanding social and economic influences on natural resource management decisions, Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Water, http://www.regionalnrm.qld.gov.au/research_sips/sips/social_economic/pdf/s_e_influences.pdf Tyrrell I, True Gardens of the Gods, Berkeley, University of California Press, March 1999, Tim L, 1999, Feral Future: The Untold Story of Australia's Exotic Invaders, Viking, Melbourne, 1999, pp.30-38, ‘To Our Hearts Content’, The Mad Dreams of the Acclimatizers’, Feral Future: The Untold Story of Australia’s Exotic Invaders, Viking, Melbourne, pp.30-38 Wolfe P, June 2001, Land, Labor, and Difference: Elementary Structures of Race, The American Historical Review, Vol. 106, No. 3 , pp. 866-905   , http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/ahr/106.3/ah000866.html   . 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