Remnants of Gondwana: a natural and social history of the Gondwana rainforests of Australia.

Chipping Norton: Surrey Beatty & Sons Pty Ltd, 2010.
Quarto, paperback, 351 pp. colour photographs, tables, maps.

The rainforests of Australia cover only 4% of Australia's land mass but contain 50% of Australia's plant and animals life. This superb synthesis of these Heritage listed forests covers all aspects of conservation, plant and animal biology, and cultural significance.

"Our....life would stagnate if it were not for the unexplored forests...We need the tonic of wilderness...We can never have enough of nature. We must be refreshed by the sight of inexhaustible vigor, vas and titanic features,...the wilderness with its living and decaying trees, the thunder-cloud, and the rain....(Thoreau 1854, p. 248)".

The World Heritage Gondwana Rainforests of Australia represent the major remaining areas of rainforest in south-east Queensland and north-east New South Wales. The property as described on the World Heritage List formally comprises parts of 27 national parks, 7 nature reserves and several other Crown reserves, located between Brisbane (in Queensland) and Newcastle (in New South Wales).

Contents
Chapter 1: The Gondwana rainforests of Australia - introduction by Roger Kitching, Richard W. Braithwaite and Janet Cavanaugh

Part 1: Parks and reserves in the Gondwana rainforests by Janet Cavanaugh
Chaper 2: The main ridge by Cathie Duffy Masters
Capter 3: The facial peak group by John Hunter
Chapter 4: The Tweed caldera group by Bill McDonald
Chapter 5: The coastal forests by Jessica Grantley
Capter 6: The Washpool and Gibraltar Range by Katherine Harrison and Janet Cavanaugh
Chapter 7: The New England group by Peter Metcalfe and Peter Higgins
Chapter 8: The Hastings-Macleay sites by Harry Creamer
Chapter 9: The Barrington Tops by Ian Brown

Part 2: The natural environment - introduction by Roger Kitching
Chapter 10: Rocks and landscapes by Cliff Oliver
Chapter 11: The vegetation by Bill McDonald and John Hunter
Chapter 12: The flora by Alex Floyd
Chapter 13: The orchids by Peter Metcalfe
Chapter 14: The mammals by Ross Goldingay and Peter O'Reilly
Chapter 15: The birds by Peter Metcalfe
Chapter 16: The reptiles by Terry Reis
Chapter 17: The amphibians by Michael Mahony
Chapter 18: The invertebrates: insects, crustaceans, arachnids, snails and worms by Geoff Williams and Dan Bickel

Part 3: The human footprint - introduction by Richard Braithwaite
Chapter 19: Fierce beauty: paradoxes of experiencing rainforest by Richard Braithwaite
Chapter 20: The aboriginal values of rainforest by Susan McIntyre-Conway, Ysola Best and Barbara Fahey
Chapter 21: The last 200 years: a European history by Kathryn Tafts
Chapter 22: The conservation of the rainforests: politics and battlelines by Janet Cavanaugh
Chapter 23: The World Heritage nominations by Janet Cavanaugh, Peter Ogilvie and Paul Adam
Chapter 24: Tourism and recreation by Ralf Buckley
Chapter 25: Management of the forest: pieces of the jigsaw by Mike Rowland and Chris Mitchell
Chapter 26: The value of Gondwana rainforests of Australia by Richard Braithwaite, Roger Kitching and Janet Cavanaugh.