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The Victorian Bush: its ‘Original and Natural’ Condition Ron Hateley . Polybractea Press , Melbourne , 2010 . xi + 209 pp. ISBN 9780977524075. Price AUD$45.00 (paperback). http://www.victorianbush.com.au/

The Victorian Bush: its ‘Original and Natural’ Condition Ron Hateley . Polybractea Press ,... The whole country was open woodland,…..there are more trees now than at the time of European settlement ….. These are the assertions of those claiming that Australia was a preprepared sparsely treed grassy paddock, patiently awaiting the arrival of northern hemisphere herbivores and grain crops. It is a convenient belief for those wanting to clear native vegetation, particularly regrowth vegetation, but is the belief justified? Who counted the trees? Is there any real evidence that Aboriginal land management kept wild nature in check and that we have subsequently let nature expand rampantly and uncontrollably in the past few centuries, or could it be that ecosystems were utilised within bounds mainly set by geology, topography, soils, climate and disturbance regimes long before any human presence on the continent? The view of rampant vegetation expansion after the release of Aboriginal burning practices has been promulgated for some years by an eclectic mix of people including Eric Rolls (a farmer) and Tim Flannery (a zoologist) and more recently Bill Gammage (a social historian – see reviews of Leavesley, and Sinclair, ). While motivations are variable among its proponents, the ‘expansionist’ viewpoint is put forward in land management debates and has been http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Ecological Management & Restoration Wiley

The Victorian Bush: its ‘Original and Natural’ Condition Ron Hateley . Polybractea Press , Melbourne , 2010 . xi + 209 pp. ISBN 9780977524075. Price AUD$45.00 (paperback). http://www.victorianbush.com.au/

Ecological Management & Restoration , Volume 14 (2) – May 1, 2013
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References (3)

Publisher
Wiley
Copyright
© 2013 Ecological Society of Australia
ISSN
1442-7001
eISSN
1442-8903
DOI
10.1111/emr.12042
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

The whole country was open woodland,…..there are more trees now than at the time of European settlement ….. These are the assertions of those claiming that Australia was a preprepared sparsely treed grassy paddock, patiently awaiting the arrival of northern hemisphere herbivores and grain crops. It is a convenient belief for those wanting to clear native vegetation, particularly regrowth vegetation, but is the belief justified? Who counted the trees? Is there any real evidence that Aboriginal land management kept wild nature in check and that we have subsequently let nature expand rampantly and uncontrollably in the past few centuries, or could it be that ecosystems were utilised within bounds mainly set by geology, topography, soils, climate and disturbance regimes long before any human presence on the continent? The view of rampant vegetation expansion after the release of Aboriginal burning practices has been promulgated for some years by an eclectic mix of people including Eric Rolls (a farmer) and Tim Flannery (a zoologist) and more recently Bill Gammage (a social historian – see reviews of Leavesley, and Sinclair, ). While motivations are variable among its proponents, the ‘expansionist’ viewpoint is put forward in land management debates and has been

Journal

Ecological Management & Restoration – Wiley

Published: May 1, 2013

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