Outdoor and Environmental Studies Unit Non Indigenous relationships with Australian environments

Key points Arrived in 1788 from a continent that had seen nature controlled for centuries. Europe had high rainfall, predictable seasons and fertile soils Believed that god had created the world for humans to use and control Contempt – all things British were superior Australian trees, landscapes, animals were harsh, ugly, strange and inferior and thus replaced with British species and landscapes. Harnessed natural resources without restraint causing huge impacts such as deforestation, animal extinction and pollution.

The First Settlers The first fleet sailed into Australia in 1788, landing in Botany Bay, Sydney. At first they found this land somewhat strange, after sighting kangaroos and koalas. They met with some aborigines who seemed to object to their arrival, however they were quickly scattered with their fire-sticks (muskets). Had those Aborigines known what their future would hold, they may have put up a more substantial fight. Within 100 years their population would dwindle from approximately 4 million to less than 200 thousand, through murderous slaughter and introduced disease.

Perceptions Most of the first settlers were convicts who longed to return to England. They were unsure if they would survive in this desperate and hard place. They believed the land was now owned, by them! However they saw Australia as a threat that had to be defeated, they wanted to tame this wild land and turn in into Ye-old England. They cared none for the way the indigenous people looked after the land and managed it. They wanted to clear forests, put up fences, introduce European animals, and valued the land only on it’s commercial yield (logging, sheep and agricultural farming etc).

Interactions and impacts Sheep production was the dominant farming practice of the day with 10,000,000 sheep in Victoria by 1870 (world’s largest wool supplier). Sheep are hard hoofed and aggressive grazers and which in combination with land clearing caused extensive soil erosion and loss of quality pasture with deep rooted perennial grasses disappearing from many areas. Logging forests was necessary to build houses for Australia’s increasing population. It also meant native trees could be replaced with more familiar English gardens. Settlers introduced many foreign speicies of animal and plants such as rabbits, foxes, pigs prickly pear, blackberries etc, most often for food and sport. Settlers build close to waterways, thus causing serious water pollution, aboriginal people never have allowed this.

Early industries at the Prom and their impacts Sealing and Whaling Forestry Mining Cattle grazing

Work task 4 Research one introduced/feral plant and animal species. (refer to worksheet).

Increasing population The settlers population expanded to 400,000 people by 1850 and they still saw the environment as a resource. The land was devastated by their practices, after the gold rush the land was left in a disastrous state, as native habitats were destroyed causing the land to resemble Europeans environment. Development started by 1880 with export businesses expanding (extended grazing areas, irrigation, orchard development, market gardens and grain plantations).

Gold rush in the high country