Discover Gondwanas wonders

Richard Braithwaite is hoping a new book called Remnants of Gondwana will help people appreciate the wonder of rainforests.

“When I sit down here, at my home outside Lismore, I look at all the pigeons flying across the trees, particularly during winter, and they come out of the rainforest. They wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for the rainforest,” Richard said. “We need to look after the country that provides ecosystem services, that helps purify water and air. Human activity depends on so much that the rainforest does. Rainforests replenish the spirit, and people enjoy walking in the cathedrals of nature.”

The Gondwana Rainforests of Australia grow along the Great Escarpment on Australia’s east coast from Barrington Tops to the Main Range near Toowoomba in south-east Queensland.

Remnants of Gondwana was edited by Richard Braithwaite, Roger Kitching and Janet Cavanaugh, and includes chapters written by experts on the geography, natural and social history of the rainforests.

Richard said he hoped the book would be of value to anyone who uses the National Parks in the area.

“I’d hope that people would get a knowledge of the plants and animals that are common to the region; if you know about something then you develop an attachment to it and help look after it. If it means nothing to you, you can’t expect people to have an interest,” he said. “A lot of people may not be aware of the quality of the wildlife we enjoy here. All the birds, the wonderful range of parrots and pigeons that we see flocking around every day, all the frogs and the noises they produce overnight – it’s a very comforting thing to have in the environment in which we live.

“The book also includes specific places and bush tracks so that people can know what’s here, what to look out for, how it has come to be that we have these places. Creating National Parks and reserves is a political process and a lot of people have sacrificed a lot so that we do have these special places. In some places in the world you can’t see sky because of the highly polluted air. Quality air comes from the rainforest, quality water is the same, it’s an ongoing process keeping quality of our life going.”

There is less than 1% of the Big Scrub, the rainforest that used to cover the Northern Rivers, left.

“A lot has been cleared for logging, dairying and other primary production activities,” Richard said. “There was a strong tradition amongst the early settlers to conquer the land and to clear it and make it civilised, as it were. It all disappeared very quickly indeed – these are the bits that are left that we are looking after.”

In his preface to the book, Federal Minister for the Environment, Peter Garrett, says that the book “presents an account of the outstanding universal value and other special values of the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia in a way that is both accessible to the general reader and retains its scientific vigour”.

Remnants of Gondwana will be available through NSW and Queensland National Park visitor centres, book shops and through the publisher’s website at www.surreybeatty.com.au.