Journal article
The contest for the tall forests of south-western Australia and the discourses of advocates
Pacific Conservation Biology, Vol.25(1), pp.50-71
2019
Abstract
After over 50 000 years of interaction between Aboriginal people and changing climates, south-western Australia's tall forests were first logged less than 200 years ago, initiating persistent conflict. Recent conservation advocacy has resulted in the protection of 49% of these tall forests in statutory reserves, providing an opportunity to implement and benefit from a growing moral consensus on the valuing of these globally significant, tall forest ecosystems. We analysed a cross-section of literature (63 papers, 118 statements) published on these forests over 187 years to identify values framing advocacy. We differentiated four resource-oriented discourses and three discourses giving primacy to social and environmental values over seven eras. Invasion sparked initial uncontrolled exploitation, with the Forests Act 1918 managing competing agricultural and timber advocacy. Following the Colonial and Country Life eras, industrialscale exploitation of the karri forest region resulted in reaction by increasingly broad sectors of society. Warming and drying in the 21st Century emphasises the importance of intact tall forest and the Indigenous Renaissance discourse. Vesting for a more comprehensive set of values would acknowledge a new moral consensus.
Details
- Title
- The contest for the tall forests of south-western Australia and the discourses of advocates
- Authors/Creators
- Grant Wardell-Johnson - Curtin UniversityAngela Wardell-Johnson - Curtin UniversityBeth Schultz - PO Box 203, Nedlands, WA 6009, Australia.Joe Dortch - The University of Western AustraliaTodd Robinson - Curtin UniversityLen Collard - The University of Western AustraliaMichael Calver - Murdoch University
- Publication Details
- Pacific Conservation Biology, Vol.25(1), pp.50-71
- Publisher
- CSIRO Publishing
- Number of pages
- 22
- Grant note
- Murdoch University University of Western Australia Curtin University
- Identifiers
- 991005580009607891
- Copyright
- © CSIRO 2019
- Murdoch Affiliation
- School of Environmental and Conservation Sciences
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Note
- Special Issue
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Source: InCites
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