Reviewed by Rama Gaind.
By Peter Valentine, NLA Publishing, $49.99.
There is nothing ordinary about this extraordinary compilation. The photographs are wonderful, eye-catching and effective, but this is not just a book for the coffee table. It’s a valuable record of the places in Australia that are recognised by the United Nations as World Heritage. From the ancient, pristine temperate rainforests in the south to the massive escarpments and tropical wetlands in the north, they are dazzling in their ecological complexity and the record they offer of life on this planet and the human experience in Australia.
The message is powerful: in addition to being beautiful, our World Heritage sights are also important ecologically, historically and culturally. In a splendid tribute, the outstanding qualities of each of the 19 sites are described and illustrated in superb detail, along with an account of how the site came to be on the World Heritage list.
Natural sites include the Great Barrier Reef, Kakadu, Lord Howe Island, Willandra Lakes, Tasmanian wilderness, Gondwana Rainforests, Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, the Wet Tropics of Queensland, Shark Bay, Fraser Island, Macquarie Island, Heard and McDonald Islands, the Blue Mountains and Purnululu National Park.
The man-made ones include the Sydney Opera House, 11 convict sites, the Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Gardens.
The colour photography is simply stunning!
A testament to his decades of involvement in world heritage, Valentine includes in each chapter a reflection on his observations, involvement with or connection to each site, from a conversation with the late Kakadu Elder Bill Neidjie to diving on the Great Barrier Reef and developing safe protocols for swimming with the whale sharks at the Ningaloo Coast.
Valentine is an adjunct professor at James Cook University, following an academic career in environmental management and conservation.
In a thoughtful foreword, former Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts and Midnight Oil lead singer Peter Garrett describes his own experience of these wonders and concern for their continued existence.
This is Australia’s world heritage: a magnificent tribute to natural and cultural history.
