World Heritage Sites of Australia

- Blurb -

Visitors to Australiamarvel when they see the places recognised by the United Nations as WorldHeritage. From the ancient, pristine temperate rainforests in the south to themassive escarpments and tropical wetlands in the north, they are dazzling intheir ecological complexity and the record they offer of life on this planetand the human experience in Australia.Peter Valentine presentsAustralia's 19 World Heritage sites in a magnificent tribute to natural andcultural history. The outstanding qualities of each site are described andillustrated in exquisite detail, along with an account of how the site came tobe on the World Heritage List. In many cases, the path towards listing was notstraightforward, with the Australian Government having to exercise itsconstitutional powers against other parties with vested interests in usingsites for other purposes, including forestry and mining. Rainforests that showthe connections of the ancient supercontinent Gondwana. Rock art that points toa history of human settlement reaching over 60,000 years into the past.Sandstone remnants of eighty years of convict labour and imprisonment. A marvelof twentieth-century architecture. This is Australia's world heritage.In a thoughtfulforeword, former minister for the environment, heritage and the arts andMidnight Oil lead singer Peter Garrett describes his own experience of thesewonders and concern for their continued existence.