Reimagining the relationship between Gondwanan forests and Aboriginal land management in Australia's “Wet Tropics”

iScience

Gerry Turpin¹  Barry Hunter¹  Victor Caetano-Andrade²  Alice Buhrich³  Nicole Boivin³  Richard Cosgrove⁴  S. Anna Florin⁵  Nils Vanwezer⁶  Åsa Ferrier⁶  Patrick Roberts⁶  Andrew Fairbairn⁶  Desley Mosquito⁷ 

[1] Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, Australia;Corresponding author;School of Social Science, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia;College of Arts, Society and Education, James Cook University, Cairns, Australia;Department of Archaeology and History, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia;Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Germany;School of Social Science, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia;

关键词: Environmental Science;    Environmental Monitoring;    Nature Conservation;    Environmental Resource;    Biological Sciences;    Plant Biology;   

DOI  :  

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Summary: The “Wet Tropics” of Australia host a unique variety of plant lineages that trace their origins to the super-continent of Gondwanaland. While these “ancient” evolutionary records are rightly emphasized in current management of the region, multidisciplinary research and lobbying by Rainforest Aboriginal Peoples have also demonstrated the significance of the cultural heritage of the “Wet Tropics.” Here, we evaluate the existing archeological, paleoenvironmental, and historical evidence to demonstrate the diverse ways in which these forests are globally significant, not only for their ecological heritage but also for their preservation of traces of millennia of anthropogenic activities, including active burning and food tree manipulation. We argue that detailed paleoecological, ethnobotanical, and archeological studies, working within the framework of growing national and world heritage initiatives and active application of traditional knowledge, offer the best opportunities for sustainable management of these unique environments in the face of increasingly catastrophic climate change and bushfires.

【 授权许可】

Unknown