Tasmania has some of the best preserved colonial buildings in Australia. Set in beautiful surroundings, these World Heritage Sites hide a dark history from the times when convict labour was vital to the economy of the Australian colonies. The volcanic islands in the southern oceans are the locations of Australia’s only active volcanoes, and provide geologists and other scientists with information about the way the Earth’s molten interior is still coming to the surface to create new land on Australia’s territorial islands. ABOUT THE WORLD HERITAGE SITES IN AUSTRALIA SERIES The titles in World Heritage Sites in Australia cover magnificent natural locations, precious historic buildings and places that contain rare archaeological remains. Australians treasure their heritage sites, and this series reveals where each site is located and what makes it so special. Find out how UNESCO chooses World Heritage Sites, and what listings mean for the countries involved. Included in this series are sections on Indigenous culture, sustainability, environmental management and the importance of place, all of which will support the Australian Curriculum for primary schools.

"Tasmania's old-growth forests, its wild, untamed rivers and its remote, rugged mountain peaks are etched in the minds of most Australians but these wilderness areas have been the focus of bitter conflict between government, big business and environmentalists for the past 30 years. Although told mostly from an environmentalist's point of view, this book is a factual record of events. Beginning in the 1970s with the flooding of Lake Pedder, it takes the reader through the heady days of the Franklin River blockade and the more recent battles for Tasmania's old-growth forests, culminating with the controversial proposal for the Gunns pulp mill in the Tamar Valley. Unfolding events reveal something of how politics is done in the island state and why a climate of suspicion and mistrust persists among the various interest groups. These battles also have had ramifications for the whole of Australia. They have played a defining part in the shaping of the Green party as well as The Wilderness Society and The Australian Conservation Foundation. Never before has Tasmania been examined through the prism of conflicting values over wilderness. This approach shows what influence this single issue has had upon Tasmania's recent history."--Provided by publisher.