A highly readable account of the recurring fights over Tasmania's natural resources that have torn its people apart for three decades.
Tasmania is world famous for its old-growth forests, its untamed rivers and its remote, rugged mountain peaks, but the struggle to preserve these wild places has been long and hard.
Tasmania's Wilderness Battles recounts the bitter wars that have raged between conservationists and proponents of hydro-electricity, mining and forestry development in Tasmania's wilderness areas. It documents some of Australia's most fiercely fought environmental campaigns, including the battles to save Lake Pedder and the Franklin River, the violent confrontations at Farmhouse Creek and the high-profile conflict over the Gunn's proposed pulp mill in the Tamar Valley.
Providing a compelling insight into how big business and government operate in Tasmania, Tasmania's Wilderness Battles examines the issues, influences and tactics that have underpinned the island state's wilderness campaigns and reveals the deep mistrust that divides its people. These conflicts that plague Tasmania are a microcosm of conservation struggles occurring all around Australia and the world today. They are at the core of this century's greatest challenge: to protect our environment while sustaining economic wellbeing. Greg Buckman presents a powerful argument for why these battles must be won.
