13-Feb-2009

Trees that Call Australia Home is a spiritual, cultural, environmental and economic celebration of Australian trees - trees that, according to author John Halkett are increasingly vital as humanity searches for solutions to climate change, renewable energy and more sustainable lifestyles in the 21st century.

Despite being thought of as 'the wide brown land' Australia has a diverse, unique and precious heritage of trees and forest communities. "Their contribution to our welfare and sense of what it is to be Australian is immense," says Mr Halkett.

The ghost gums and baobabs of the outback, the tropical rainforests, the spectacular Victorian mountain ash, the majestic karri and jarrah of Western Australia and the diverse eastern eucalypts, are all among "the trees that call Australia home."

"More recently, they have been joined by introduced pines, which with native trees form the basis of an expanding tree plantation estate," he said.

Trees that Call Australia Home makes the case that together with the Southern Cross, Uluru and Sydney Harbour Bridge, the gum tree is quintessentially Australian. From the early days of European settlement to the mud and blood of Gallipoli, to the cosmopolitan society of the 21st century, it has, the book says remains a defining symbol of Australia and its sense of identity.

The book details how the forests of Australia, manipulated and perpetuated by Aboriginal fire stick farming, were initially regarded as an obstacle to European settlement and destroyed on a dramatic scale. However, trees soon became recognised as an economic catalyst in the fledgling British colony and their contribution to economic well-being continues to this day.

"Trees have been fundamental to human life, to economic welfare and to cultural and spiritual development since time immemorial," says Mr Halkett.

"It is apparent that trees must play a more central role in confronting issues like climate change, resource depletion and renewable energy in the decades ahead."

In saluting the amazing qualities, geographic spread, botanical complexity and the special Australianness of our trees and their forest homes, Trees that Call Australia Home recognises the importance of trees to continuing human existence and survival in Australia and across the globe.

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