梦幻大堡礁

大堡礁是世界上景色最美、规模最大、最为迷人的珊瑚礁群,是令澳大利亚人最值得骄傲的世界七大自然景观之一,1981年列入世界遗产名录。今年金秋时节,我有机会亲历梦幻大堡礁。     

纵贯澳大利亚——大堡礁专业潜水船

<正>在我粗浅的意识中,澳大利亚有两个地方是此生一定要去看看的,在我已经去过乌卢鲁之后,大堡礁是另一个目标。这条2000多公里的珊瑚礁链几乎包裹了整个昆士兰东海岸,如今它正经受着前所未有的生存危机,再不去看看或许就看不到了。尽管昆士兰北部同时拥有热带雨林和大堡礁两处世界遗产,但更为游人喜闻乐见的旅游活动几乎都是围绕着大堡礁进行的,凯恩斯以及道格拉斯港这样的城市好像就是为了人们参观大堡礁而生,这里的各种游船生意已经做了     

Sense Matters: aesthetic values of the Great Barrier Reef

This paper investigates the use of aesthetic value as a criterion by which the significance of heritage places is assessed. It is argued that current heritage management practice has not engaged with the extensive discourse relating to aesthetics, and therefore confines aesthetics to a particular class and culture, and an inert view of only one of our sensory experiences. Historical records relating to the Great Barrier Reef are used to show how aesthetic appreciation of the area has changed over time.The data suggest that the failure to recognise an aesthetic that is primarily non-visual can lead to changes in landscape and loss of associated value. It also suggests that aesthetic values change rapidly and are influenced by social and technological factors.     

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park: Dimensions and Regional Patterns

A mapping programme of all reefs of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park area and compilation of a computer-based gazetteer containing locational and morphological data have permitted the first comprehensive spatial and morphometric analysis of the Great Barrier Reef. As previously suspected the analysis shows that a degree of organisation exists in the complexity of the Reef and clear regional and latitudinal patterns are recognised Reasons for this, particularly in relation to regional structure and the influence of the pre-Holocene foundations of the modem reef, are discussed The usefulness of a morphometric approach is suggested and an example related to Acanthaster planci outbreaks presented     

Aborigines,Islanders and Hula Girls in Great Barrier Reef Tourism

ABSTRACT

The Great Barrier Reef is one of the world's premier tourist destinations. It is promoted and marketed to tourists as part of an idealised Pacific island paradise. While the gardens and decor of island resorts mimic those of resorts elsewhere in the Pacific, the way in which Indigenous people are represented is markedly different. This paper presents an analysis of historic tourist ephemera to suggest that Australian Aboriginal people are largely invisible at the Great Barrier Reef, despite their role in establishing the tourism industry. It suggests that ambiguities of Aboriginal presence, in labour and performance, are a product of tourism ideals and colonial race relations.     

New Regionalism and Planning for Water Quality Improvement in the Great Barrier Reef,Australia

New regionalism encompasses a diversity of approaches to address regional planning problems. Within Australia, the Great Barrier Reef Water Quality Protection Plan was developed to enhance water quality within the World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef, and the plan gave responsibility to regional, natural resource management bodies to undertake several actions. This paper evaluates these initiatives in the light of the emerging theory of new regionalism and highlights six main lessons: up-scaling of the catchment approach to a reef-wide approach is essential in order to improve water quality, but must be complemented by cross-regional collaboration; new governance and institutional arrangements and strengthened partnerships must be effectively integrated; culture and history are important in determining the most effective management approaches; pilot projects must move to comprehensive and strategic implementation; science is important but needs to incorporate other branches of knowledge; and economic incentives are important in encouraging the implementation of best practices, but delivery needs to be flexible. We conclude that the new regional approach is appropriate for addressing complex, multi-scale problems such as water quality, and has incorporated several key principles of new regionalism, but that the process must move quickly to a higher level of commitment and application.     

Adaptive Management for Water Quality Improvement in the Great Barrier Reef Catchments: Learning on the Edge

This paper proposes using an adaptive management approach to achieve water quality improvement in large catchments with multiple diffuse pollutant issues. Adaptive management involves attention to process, and commitment to continually improving knowledge and practice. It also requires an appreciation of differences in understanding of various stakeholders and an ongoing commitment to learning. Based on research with the Burdekin Dry Tropics regional Natural Resource Management group, the paper shows how the acquisition of knowledge about Water Quality Management can be an aim in itself, rather than an activity peripheral to the planning process. To this end, the paper describes the methods used to elicit stakeholders’ understandings, explores the variation in understandings between key stakeholders, and describes a process used to incorporate the various views in an adaptive management framework for managing water quality. The research findings reveal the importance of process and participation for adaptive management and suggest that success can be judged in terms of learning outcomes.     

Nearest Neighbour Analysis and Wedge-Tailed Shearwater Burrow Patterns on Heron and Masthead Islands,Great Barrier Reef

Heron and Masthead Islands in the Capricorn Group of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park support major nesting colonies of the wedge-tailed shearwater. The distribution pattern of shearwater nesting burrows was established for particular habitats on both islands by means of a nearest neighbour analysis. Areas of Pisonia grandis forest had the highest burrow density and near-random distribution patterns for burrows while the island fringes had the lowest densities and higher degrees of aggregation. These results may reflect the importance of social communication within a wedge-tailed shearwater colony. Burrows are distributed in patches around the margins of the colony where clear and fringe habitats are represented, but randomly near the centre in Pisonia areas, where sheer numbers may negate the need for further aggregation.     

Tropical Cyclones in the Great Barrier Reef,Australia, 1910–1999: a First Step Towards Characterising the Disturbance Regime

The proximity of a reef to a tropical cyclone path is the simplest means of estimating the potential for disturbance (that is, physical damage from waves) at that reef. Calculated for cyclones that tracked across a sample of reefs spanning much of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) from 1910 to 1999, such proximities provide a preliminary history of cyclone disturbance in that region for which spatial and temporal trends can be examined. As the long‐term dynamics of cyclone disturbance affect the structure and function of coral reef communities, the disturbance regime can be used to consider whether the current state of coral communities (as measured in 1999) represents that which was present over the entire time series, and whether the frequency of cyclone disturbance across the GBR is high (limited recovery time between events) or intermediate (variable recovery time between events) in nature. This analysis reveals that for more than half of the GBR, the latest major disturbance occurred less recently than normal for the time series (current communities had more time for recovery than usual) and that these disturbances are generally intermediate in frequency. However, because many factors other than distance affect the potential for disturbance, these results represent a first step towards characterising the nature of cyclone disturbance across the GBR.     

Unlocking Australia's Relationship with the Middle East

Historically, Australia's interests in the Middle East related primarily to its role in the Commonwealth imperial defence system which resulted in the deployment of Australian forces in the Middle East during both the First and Second World Wars. Similarly, the current involvement of Australian troops in Iraq and Afghanistan is driven by the country's strategic alliance with the United States. However, Australia's current involvement reflects a multifaceted relationship that spans economic, political and strategic spheres. Yet it is at the level of cultural and civilisational contacts that this relationship appears at its most vulnerable. This paper argues that a deeper understanding of this cultural dimension combined with a broader emphasis on good governance and human rights would be conducive to more robust ties in the longer term.     

Buffalo hunting and the feral frontier of Australia's Northern Territory

There is now a growing interest in new approaches to examine the construction and significance of Western frontier landscapes. This paper adds to this new scholarship by examining how labour relations associated with buffalo hunting in Australia's North were also race relations which became embedded in the production and representations of this landscape as a feral region of the outback frontier. Drawing on a range of archival, secondary and oral sources, the paper outlines the myriad of human–buffalo and cross-cultural interactions that revolved around the shooting of buffalo within an erratic industry between the early 1890s and the mid-1950s. The analysis emphasizes that insecure efforts of officials and settlers to authorize, re-work or hide buffalo hunting interactions were linked with a wider debate on the type of people and animals who could colonize this region. It is from these ‘feral’ landscapes and histories, the paper argues, where a multiple of definitions and significance of frontier experiences can be found.

La chasse au buffle et les avant-postes féraux du Northern Territory de l'Australie

De nouvelles méthodes qui sont employées pour étudier la construction et la signification des paysages frontaliers occidentaux présentent aujourd'hui un intérêt croissant. Le présent article vise à enrichir ces travaux savants par l'examen des façons dont les relations au travail associé à la chasse au buffle ont aussi été des relations interraciales qui ont fait partie intégrante de la production et des représentations de ce paysage comme région férale de l'intérieur du pays inexploré. L'article s'appuie sur de nombreuses sources d'archives, secondaires et orales et présente une vue d'ensemble de la myriade d'interactions transculturelles et homme-buffle qui caractérisaient la chasse au buffle durant la période marquée d'irrégularités allant des années 1890 jusqu'au milieu des années 1950. L'analyse permet de souligner les efforts ténus de la part des officiers et colonisateurs pour rendre légitime, retravailler ou masquer les interactions de la chasse au buffle qui étaient liés, en effet, à un débat plus important sur le genre de personnes et d'animaux qui pouvaient coloniser cette région. L'article conclue que dans ces histoires et paysages «féraux» se retrouvent une quantité innombrable de définitions et de sens découlant des expériences vécues aux avant-postes.

Title in spanish

Hay un interés cada vez mayor en nuevos enfoques para examinar la construcción y la importancia de los paisajes fronterizos occidentales. Este papel contribuye a este nuevo estudio por examinar cómo las relaciones laborales asociadas con la caza de búfalo en el norte de Australia eran también relaciones raciales que se arraigaron en la producción y las representaciones de este paisaje como una región salvaje de la frontera del ‘outback’. Haciendo uso de información de archivos y fuentes secundarias y orales, el papel detalla la miríada de interacciones entre humanos y búfalos y tras varias culturas que giraban alrededor de la caza de búfalo dentro de una industria irregular entre 1890 y 1950. El análisis enfatiza que los esfuerzos inseguros de funcionarios y pobladores para autorizar, adaptar u ocultar las interacciones en la caza de búfalo se vinculaban con un debate más amplio sobre qué tipo de persona y animal se permitía a colonizar esta región. El papel sugiere que son en éstos historias y paisajes ‘salvajes’ donde se encuentran las múltiples definiciones y la importancia de las experiencias fronterizas.