Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
moving beyond the glossy brochures, travel websites and the guidebooks to
something tangibly natural - to something too old, large, independent and
ungovernable to be socially constructed or even conditioned.
Or would you be? Towards the end of
Chapter 2
, in my extended dis-
cussion of representation, I argued that even what appear to be 'first-hand'
experiences are profoundly affected by our cultural milieux and particular
actors operating according to its conventions (or, perhaps, seeking to chal-
lenge them). I now want to make good on this claim by taking the case of
Fraser Island, located 190 kilometres north of Brisbane, the Australian city
that's the capital of Queensland (see
Map 4.3)
. I'll examine what, undeni-
ably, appears to be a (tragic) caseof encounteringnature in the raw.However, I
will show that even when one (apparently) dispenses with the representations
of nature offered by others - be they molecular geneticists, environmental-
ists (like Dorst and Cameron) or corporations (like MacMillan Bloedel) - the
nature existing 'beyond representation' proves to be rather elusive.
The nature of Fraser Island
Some 120 kilometres long and, on average, 12 kilometres wide, Fraser Island
is considered to be very special in a biophysical sense. Indeed, it achieved
UNESCO World Heritage status back in 1992 within the category of 'nat-
vegetated one. It has been formed by silt, which has been washed into the
Pacific by nearby rivers and then driven northwards by powerful ocean cur-
rents. Over the centuries, the silt has accumulated and, above the water line,
has been sculpted by strong winds. The resulting complex of sand dunes
rises to over 200 metres above sea level. In many places on the island, dried,
hardened and compacted sand in wind-created hollows has combined with
plant debris. The layering of organic and inorganic matter has created a bar-
rier that's enabled so-called 'perched lakes' to form. These exist above the
water table and are typically beautiful, comprising clear blue-green water,
edged by sand or subtropical vegetation.
Aside from the lakes and the fine, white sand, Fraser Island is known
for its biodiversity. In some parts, imposing tropical forest can be found,
while in others there's heathland (which bursts into colour each spring),
marsh and coastal mangroves. Rain-fed streams give rise to corridors of
water-tolerant plants, like ferns, leading down to the shoreline. There are
numerous migratory bird species and several rare insect, reptile and amphib-
ian species too. Most famously of all, there are dingoes - one of the higher
mammals Australia is known for worldwide (along with the iconic kan-
garoo and the koala bear). At the time of writing (spring 2012), all of
the main visitor websites contained prominent images of dingoes on sev-
eral pages (e.g.
http://www.fraserisland.net
and
http://www.fraserisland.info
[both accessed 10 March 2012]). Dingoes arrived in Australia some 3,500
years ago, transported from southeast Asia by seafarers. In terms of natural
