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The Gold Coast Transformed

The Gold Coast Transformed

From Wilderness to Urban Ecosystem

Edited by Tor Hundloe, Bridgette McDougall and Craig Page
Paperback
November 2015
9781486303298
More details
  • Publisher
    CSIRO Publishing
  • Published
    6th November 2015
  • ISBN 9781486303298
  • Language English
  • Pages 230 pp.
  • Size 6.625" x 9.625"
  • Images b/w & color photos
$59.95
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The Gold Coast is Australia’s premier tourism destination, a city cut out of coastal vegetation, including paperbark swamps, mangroves and rainforests of 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. It traces the cumulative impacts from the day the first timber-getter entered what is now World Heritage-listed rainforest through to the present.

The city’s natural and engineered environments are both fascinating and vulnerable. The construction of massive highrise 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, policy-makers and the general public.

About the editors
List of contributors
Acknowledgements

Introduction: The Structure of the Book
The Gold Coast: A Snapshot
The Gold Coast Before Cook Named Mount Warning
A Brief History of Discovery, Settlement and Development
The Impact on the Gold Coast’s Terrestrial Environments
The Beaches
Marine Environments of the Gold Coast: Out with the Old, in with the New
Wildlife of the Gold Coast Wetlands
Rainbow Lorikeets, Possums and Pythons: The Wildlife of the Gold Coast
'Getting up close and personal': Wildlife of the Theme Parks of the Gold Coast
The Legacy of a Pioneering Gold Coast Conservationist
The Pink Poodle, Swimming Pavilions and Miami Ice
Reducing the Ecological Footprint: The Prospect for Green Energy
The Gold Coast Business Sector Meeting the Environmental Challenge
Planning for the Gold Coast: Past, Present and Future
State of the Environment
In Conclusion, Something to Chew On: Native Plant Foods of the Gold Coast

Index

Tor Hundloe

Emeritus Professor Tor Hundloe was one of the pioneers of modern-day environmentalism. In 2003, he was the first Australian recognized by the award of an Order of Australia for his development and practice of economics in line with ecological reality and ethical imperatives. In 2010, he was awarded the Individual Award by the United Nations Association of Australia and is currently a researcher within the Global Change Institute at the University of Queensland. He has also edited The Value of Water in a Drying Climate (2012), The Gold Coast Transformed (2015), and Australia's Role in Feeding the World (2016).

Bridgette McDougall

Bridgette McDougall is a graduate from Bond University 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

Craig Page is an Adjunct Tutor and research scholar attached to the Faculty of Society and Design, Bond University. He spends considerable time in South-East Asia, particularly Vietnam, assisting in the promotion and development of sustainability projects.