The Gold Coast Transformed: From Wilderness to Urban Ecosystem

Description

The Gold Coast is one of Australia's premier tourism destinations, a modern city cut out of coastal vegetation, including paperbark swamps, mangroves and rainforests of both Indigenous and worldwide significance. The Gold Coast Transformed is a collection of integrated chapters identifying and assessing the environmental impacts of the building of Australia's sixth largest city. From the time of the first European timber getters through to the present, the book traces the impacts of rapid development on the now World Heritage-listed rainforest and surrounding ecosystems. The city's natural and engineered environments are both fascinating and vulnerable. The construction of massive high-rise apartment blocks, on what were frontal beach dunes, is one of the fundamental mistakes not to be repeated. The book illustrates how and why major environmentally destructive development took place and discusses the impacts of such development on the Gold Coast's beaches, wildlife, and terrestrial and marine environments, such as the destruction of riparian mangrove forest. The Gold Coast Transformed also shows the possibility of sustaining natural populations and reducing the city's ecological footprint. It will be of interest to ecologists, environmental scientists and managers, town planners, economists, policymakers and the general public.

Tor Hundloe is Professor of Environmental Science and Management, Bond University, Australia. He is Emeritus Professor of Environmental Management, the University of Queensland, Australia and Adjunct Professor, the Environment School, Griffith University, Australia. Bridgette McDougall is a graduate from Bond University, Australia, and is a Tutor in the field of sustainability science while she pursues a higher degree in environmental education. Her key focus is on education for conservation, particularly as delivered by 'hands on' experience in field settings, such as David Fleay's Wildlife Park on the Gold Coast. Craig Page is an Adjunct Tutor and research scholar attached to the Faculty of Society and Design, Bond University, Australia. He spends considerable time in South-East Asia, particularly Vietnam, assisting in the promotion and development of sustainability projects.