The Gold Coast is one of Australia's premier tourism destinations, 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. From the time of the first timber-getters through to the present, the book traces the cumulative impacts of humans on the now World Heritage-listed rainforest. 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 Gold Coast Transformed 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.
About the editors
List of contributors
Acknowledgements
Chapter One: Introduction: The Structure of the Book
Chapter Two: The Gold Coast: A Snapshot
Chapter Three: The Gold Coast Before Cook Named Mount Warning
Chapter Four: A Brief History of Discovery, Settlement and Development
Chapter Five: The Impact on the Gold Coast’s Terrestrial Environments
Chapter Six: The Beaches
Chapter Seven: Marine Environments of the Gold Coast: Out with the Old, in with the New
Chapter Eight: Wildlife of the Gold Coast Wetlands
Chapter Nine: Rainbow Lorikeets, Possums and Pythons: The Wildlife of the Gold Coast
Chapter Ten: ‘Getting up close and personal’: Wildlife of the Theme Parks of the Gold Coast
Chapter Eleven: The Legacy of a Pioneering Gold Coast Conservationist
Chapter Twelve: The Pink Poodle, Swimming Pavilions and Miami Ice
Chapter Thirteen: Reducing the Ecological Footprint: The Prospect for Green Energy
Chapter Fourteen: The Gold Coast Business Sector Meeting the Environmental Challenge
Chapter Fifteen: Planning for the Gold Coast: Past, Present and Future
Chapter Sixteen: State of the Environment
Chapter Seventeen: In Conclusion, Something to Chew On: Native Plant Foods of the Gold Coast
Index
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.