Australian Immigration And Its Effects On The Environment Essay, Research Paper

Australian immigration and its effects

Australia is an island continent which is

geographically isolated from the rest of the world. This

has resulted in the evolution of many unique plants and

animals and the development of a very fragile ecosystem.

This ecosystem has been influenced by human immigration for

many thousands of years.

The original immigrants were the Aborigines who are

thought to have migrated to Australia from Asia between 50

and 100 thousand years ago. These primitive people learned

to live in the inhospitable environment of Australia with

very little effect. Their major environmental impact was

from the use of controlled burning of the land. Over the

years they had learned the benefit of periodic fires to

control pests and to clear debris before it accumulated and

led to large uncontrolled disastrous fires. This also

returned nutrients to the soil which helped to grow back new

vegetation. Unlike those who followed, the Aborigines had

very little impact on the environment.

Following the Aborigines, Asian seafarers are believed

to have traveled to Australia to trade on the north shores.

Experts are not sure, but they believe that these seafarers

are the ones who first introduced the dingo into Australia

almost 3,500 years ago. The dingo rapidly became the top

predator and is probably the cause of the disappearance of

the Tasmanian wolf and the Tasmanian devil from Australia.

They will hunt down almost anything but they are not known

to attack humans. They will attack kangaroos, wombats,

rabbits, and even lizards. After the settlers arrived and

the sheep were brought in, the dingo started to hunt the

sheep. The sheep were much easier for them to get. As a

result of this the sheep grazers built a 3,307 mile long

fence to separate the sheep from the dingo. A $20 US bounty

is now placed on the pelt of each dingo.

European immigrants did not come to Australia until

after April 29, 1770 when captain James Cook landed in

Botany Bay and made the first claim for England on the

eastern part of the island. He called it New South Wales.

In 1787, England started their first colony in

Australia which was a penal colony since England?s prisons

were very overcrowded. That year, on May 13, eleven ships

carrying almost 1,500 people, 800 of them convicts, left

England for the new colony. The ships first landed in

Botany Bay on January 18, 1788 but found it unsuitable for a

colony. They then moved north to Port Jackson, one of the

world?s best natural harbors. The settlement was started on

January 26 which is now celebrated every year as Australia

day. The settlement was later named Sydney after Britain?s

secretary, Lord Sydney. Lord Sydney was responsible for the

entire colony.

The first European immigrants brought with them their

livestock, plants, and traditional ways. Much of this was

not suitable for Australian conditions. They also brought

with them cultural beliefs including the Christian belief

that man was superior to the rest of creation and had the

God given right to exploit nature.

The Europeans believed that the Aborigines were

inferior and refused to use the knowledge that they had

acquired about the environment. They began a campaign of

genocide with bullets, diseases, and even poison. With few

Aborigine survivors the practice of periodic burning came to

an end. This led to many of the plants and animals which

had become dependent on this regular burning to die off.

Sheep ranching quickly became a major agricultural

practice in Australia. By 1860 over 20,000,000 sheep were

grazing and by 1890 there were over 100,000,000 spread over

the entire continent. Sheep graze in large herds and their

hooves destroy the fragile soil by trampling it down so hard

that roots and water can not easily get through it. Over

grazing quickly led to soil erosion turning pastures into

dust bowls. This also led to the overgrowth of tougher

plants, some of which were poisonous. Destruction of the

grazing land also effected many of the small native animals

such as bandicoots which had depended on it for food and

cover.

The European rabbit has also been able to thrive in

Australia at the expense of the environment. They were

first introduced by a squatter named Thomas Austin who had

24 rabbits sent to him in 1859. He used them for breeding

and also released some to hunt. The rabbits found that

there was plenty of good food and liked the sandy soil for

burrowing. They reproduced rapidly and quickly took over

and replaced other native animal species. Large stretches

of the country became scarred from the burrowing and barren

from the rabbits eating the vegetation in sight.

The water buffalo is another non-native animal which

has caused several problems. They were introduced by the

Australian Army in the far north during the early 1800?s.

Originally there were only about 100 in Australia but by

1981 there were nearly 300,000 roaming the wet-lands. When

they were introduced into Australia they brought the blood

sucking fly with them. When the fly sucks the blood from

animals it releases a chemical that can kill them. These

flies breed in the dung of the buffalo and have been able to

breed freely because the Australian dung beetle cannot get

rid of the large patties left by the buffalo. The

Australian dung beetle is only use to the small pellets left

by the sheep. The buffalo also tear up the ground which has

led to severe soil erosion and their wallowing turns the

wetlands into muddy bogs harming breeding grounds of many

small water-living plants and animals.

The unpredictable Australian weather, particularly the

droughts led the immigrants to develop reservoirs and

irrigation systems. Unfortunately, life along these rivers

had adapted to the periodic floods and droughts. Many of

these native plants, deprived of this natural cycle, have

suffered and are in danger of extinction. The cooling

effects of the dams, due to water drawn off the bottom, has

made many rivers too cold for native fish to spawn.

The European immigrants had specific ideas regarding

the beauty of nature. The Australian landscape did not fit

these standards of beauty. They therefore began to

landscape by first clearing native plants and replacing them

with imported ones. The list of these plants grew year

after year. Some failed while others thrived and

overcrowded the native plants. One of these plants is the

Prickly pear. It was originally imported as a hedge plant

but eventually took over 120,000 square miles of land.

The effects of immigration on the Australian

environment over the last few centuries has been

devastating. The original European immigrants could not

foresee the major impact their transplants and traditions

would have on the environment. Even if they had, conquering

the land was necessary for their survival. In many areas the

environmental degradation may have past the point where it

can be restored and is now beyond repair. However, with

greater understanding and knowledge of the Australian

ecosystem it is hoped that further degradation can be

stopped or even reversed. What is needed now is the

commitment of people and resources to make it happen.

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