Looking forward to this event this Thursday November 1, as part of Local History Week 2018.
I will be taking the audience on a journey of discovery of the Manawatu’s past through the photographs of C.E. Wildbore and others. The event also marks the launch of Totara Press’s beautiful new (French-flapped) edition of Ravaged Beauty: An environmental history.
Wildbore: A photographic legacy will also be for sale at the event.
See event details here
Forget about what Pixie thinks, Beyond Manapouri: 50 years of environmental politics in New Zealand has been short-listed for the New Zealand Heritage Book Awards, alongside some prestigious authors such as Dame Ann Salmond.
A paper exploring how the perception of rivers has changed over time has just been published in a special issue of the international journal River Research Applications, entitled The meaning of rivers in Aotearoa New Zealand – Past and present”.
This paper examines how attitudes towards rivers in Aotearoa New Zealand have
evolved since the country’s settlement by Europeans, two centuries ago. For most
of our postcolonial history, rivers have been viewed as something to be controlled
and managed—even “improved.” But today, rivers are increasingly being recognized
as embodying a broad range of values from the ecological to the spiritual—not simply
as a “channel of water” that can be exploited for human ends. Although much of this
evolving understanding stems from the advance in scientific knowledge, much too has
its roots in our collective past.
The paper can be viewed here: River Research Applications
Yes, the rumours are true! The sparkly new edition of “Ravaged Beauty: An environmental history of the Manawatu”, published by Totara Press, is now available! And it looks stunning. The French flaps are back by popular demand, the photographs are almost jumping off the page they look so good, and we have made a few design enhancements to make your reading experience all the more enjoyable.
But best of all? The price remains exactly the same, at $49.99.
Find more details, including flyer, here. Purchase from your local bookstore, or order online from Nationwide Book Distributors.
The launch of “Wildbore: A photographic legacy” on Wednesday night was an amazing success, with over 80 people attending, including around 20 people from the wonderful Wildbore clan. Thank you all for coming along and making it such a successful and enjoyable event. Here are some photo highlights.
I was recently alerted to this interesting graph showing the various drivers in landscape transformation in Aotearoa New Zealand over the past two centuries. The graph appears in Eric Pawson’s chapter ‘Sustainability and management of the environment’ in The physical environment: A New Zealand perspective, edited by A. Sturman and R. Spronken-Smith (Oxford University Press, 2001). It would be an intriguing to see how the graph looks beyond 2000.
