| During the last two
centuries, coastal development in Australia have increased dramatically,
this resulted in massive alterations to landscape and coastal
features to accommodate seemingly ever-growing demands of industry,
trade and population. Notable significant losses have been observed
for seagrass and mangrove habitats in some areas. But what are
the longer term effects of such changes? Are they sustainable?
Will our quality of life and the environment be affected?
How much do we value natural environments and do they need to
be managed? Is it important to record environmental history, and
does it matter how things might have changed?
Historical information is our chart to the future
Historical information is like a chart used by sailors to navigate.
In the absence of a chart, sailors would be unable to travel without
continually testing the water ahead. A chart therefore represents
the accumulated knowledge and observations of earlier sailors,
making it a functional historical document. In some ways, a good
navigation chart is analogous to a sound historical assessment
of change and current health of ecosystems. Prior knowledge and
accumulated observations of habitat condition will help us avoid
striking ecological hazards and creating environmental disasters
in the future. |