This book examines how Australian cities are becoming unsustainable and suggests possibilities for future actions that move us towards sustainability. Chapters on population and demography, air quality, water quality, water availability, transport and biodiversity include many new ideas to make our cities more sustainable.

Social historians will look back on the 1980s as a period when a global consciousness of the environment developed. Stimulated by major issues and events such as oil and chemical spills, clearing of rainforests, pollu tion of waterways, and, towards the end of the decade, concern over the greenhouse effect, concern for the environment has become a major social and political force. Unfortunately, the state of the environment and its future manage ment are still very divisive issues. Often, at a local level, concern for the environment is the antithesis of development. The debate usually focusses on the possible negative environmental impacts of an activity versus the expected positive economic impacts. It is a very difficult task to integrate development and conservation, yet it is towards this objec tive that the sustainable development debate is moving. The issues in the central wheatbelt of Western Australia are typical of the environment versus development debate. It is undoubted that the development of the area, which involved clearing the native vegetation, has had a major impact upon the original ecosystems. Many of the natural habitats are threatened and local extinction of flora and fauna species is a continuing process. Moreover, there are clear signs that land degradation processes such as dryland salinity are depleting the land resource.

Whenever the history of ecological thought has been written the contributions of Australian thinkers have been omitted. Yet Australia as a continent of extreme, rare and complex environments has produced a startling group of ecological pioneers. Across a wide range of human endeavour, Australian thinkers and innovators - whether they have thought of themselves as environmentalists or not - have made some truly original contributions to ecological thought. Ecological Pioneers traces the emergence of ecological understandings in Australia. By constructing a social history with chapters focusing on different fields in the arts, sciences, politics and public life, the authors bring to life the work of significant individuals. Some of the ecological pioneers featured include Joseph Banks, Russell Drysdale, Judith Wright, Myles Dunphy, Philip Crosbie Morrison, Vincent Serventy, Francis Ratcliffe, the Gurindji and Yolngu peoples, Bill Mollison, Jack Mundey, Val Plumwood, Michael Leunig, and many more.

Sumary: In this valuable contribution to the field of river basin management, Brebbia (Wessex Institute of Technology, UK) compiles 35 papers from a conference that presented recent advances in all aspects of hydrology, including ecology, environmental management, flood plains and wetlands. Academics and practitioners address the planning, design, and management of riverine systems, including the development of software modeling and GIS tools for predicting water flow, water quality, sediment transport, and ecological processes. Case studies of national, regional, and international challenges, priorities, and agreements treat topics including erosion control systems, climate change, and conflicts between hydropower generation and fish habitat interests. Illustrations include drinking water catchment areas, hydrographs, and areas of pre- and post-flooding/restoration.

Since the European settlement of Australia, enormous areas of wetlands have been drained or filled, and many of those remaining have become infested with introduced weeds and vermin. Native plants and animals have been the losers. The loss of Australia's wetlands has impoverished the landscape, reduced farm productivity, worsened flood and erosion problems, and has helped to turn water quality problems into front-page news. This unique, practical manual provides a complete, step-by-step guide to the creation of conditions in which native wetland plants will thrive.