Areas of concern

Introduction

Over the past two centuries, since the first European settlers came to Australia in 1788, human activity has drastically and detrimentally altered Australia's environments. The Indigenous peoples who had populated the land for tens of thousands (or perhaps millions) of years have been credited with maintaining the world's oldest continuous culture. Through telling stories of the Dreamtime, Aboriginal people explained their existence, history and intimate relationship with the land. They lived a nomadic (constantly moving) hunter-gatherer lifestyle with practices, customs and beliefs developed in harmony with the natural environment.

Standing in stark contrast to this was the culture of the early Australian settlers and the sedentary (remaining in a fixed place) housing and farming traditions of the British. Rapid population expansion, the development of agricultural and natural resource industries, and the adoption of a non-sustainable capitalist model of economic development throughout the twentieth century, have together created a plethora of environmental issues and concerns. These reiterate the vital need to better manage and protect our natural and built environments. See animation 1

What is the environment?

The study of geography is concerned with the interaction between humans and their surrounding environments, and the influence these have upon each other. Under Australia's Environmental Protection (Impact of Proposals) Act 1974 (Cth) the 'environment' is defined as including: 'all aspects of the surroundings of human beings'. While the environment therefore refers to the physical (or natural) world, it also includes the built (or human-influenced) aspects of our surroundings.

The physical environment includes the resources provided by our natural surroundings. These natural resources are essential for meeting the basic survival needs of humans, and can be placed into two categories: renewable and non-renewable resources. While the former (such as rivers, wetlands and forests) are able to replace themselves if used in a sustainable manner, the latter (such as coal, oil and minerals) are irreplaceable. Together these natural resources are known as our 'natural capital' because they have a direct economic value. See images 1 and 2

The built environment includes the human elements of our surroundings, which influence the way we behave and go about our daily lives. In other words, it encompasses anything and everything that is man-made. Examples of the built environment range from modern buildings to ancient cultural artefacts, transport systems and even a pile of rubbish.

In studying the human elements of the environment, it is important to understand the political, economic, social and cultural characteristics of the places in which we live (our communities), however large or small. Factors such as population changes and the growth of cities, for example, determine the way people interact with the natural world. They can also reveal a great deal about why we are experiencing many of the environmental problems that will be explored throughout this unit.

Major areas of concern in Australia

The major geographical issues of environmental concern in Australia that will be explored throughout this unit fall into the following categories: land management; water management; air quality; coastal management; biodiversity conservation; waste management; urban growth and decline; spatial inequality (or inequality between different geographical areas); population change and tourism.

Throughout this unit some of these areas of concern will be covered in more detail by looking at Australian-specific case studies. These will explore the nature of each issue by: demonstrating its environmental impacts; analysing the perceptions that each has received from different stakeholders (interest groups); assessing the way the situation has been managed; reviewing responses that the process of management has received; and evaluating the entire process in terms of how it reflects upon Australia's level of sustainability, social justice and equity.

Issues relating to physical elements of the environment

The increasing disruption of Australian ecosystems since European arrival has led to concern for the continent's physical environments. Settlement patterns, housing and the development of industry have led to widespread plant and animal extinction. The over use of fossil fuel-driven energy sources has produced extreme levels of air and water pollution. Exploitation and mismanagement of our natural resources has depleted supplies and compromised the ability of future generations to meet their development needs. Deforestation for timber harvesting has destroyed habitats and reduced water quality. See image 3

While this list of environmental issues may seem exhaustive, it only really touches the surface of problems caused by poor environmental management. Many of the underlying causes of these problems stem from humans' attitudes towards the physical environment and the perception of it as a resource to be used endlessly, without due consideration of the needs of future generations. Other factors include the European settlers' ignorance of Australia's physical environment and an over emphasis on economic growth and development.

Issues relating to human elements of the environment

The human elements of Australia's environments have changed considerably since European arrival, possibly even more overtly than the physical elements described earlier. It is important to protect features of our built environment, as they are often of great historic, social or cultural significance. Many issues which have arisen in Australia over the past two centuries now present challenges to the human elements of our surroundings.

The consumerist nature of modern Australian society has meant that we are now among the world's biggest producers of waste. The trend towards settling in a small number of massive metropolitan centres has increased levels of inequality between our populations. Modern technologies and declining birth rates have meant that our population is ageing rapidly. People migrating to Australia from all parts of the world continue to transform the ethnic and cultural characteristics of our society. Tourism, an industry dependent upon the physical and built aspects of our environment, has become one of Australia's most important national industries.

All of these human elements have presented Australia with a range of environmental issues which, combined with the problems affecting the physical environment, need to be effectively managed to increase the sustainability, and hence enable the survival, of our society.