Going Native

Why is it so easy for us to keep a cat, but a legal nightmare to keep a koala?

Why does Australia import eucalyptus oil? Why does Brazil grow more gum trees and Israel produce more Australian flowers than we do? Why don’t our suburban nature strips support any nature? And if Aborigines survived so well for thousands of years, why don’t we eat more native food?

Ruined soils, parched rivers, clear-felled forests, invading weeds and pests, vanishing species… the long list of our environmental ills is depressingly familiar. Yet most of the remedies are right under our noses, in Australia’s unique plants and animals. Mike Archer and Bob Beale have created a persuasive and inspiring blueprint for change, a dynamic new vision for Australia that calls for a revolution in our thinking about our relationship with this amazing continent.

We need to look to the vast commercial potential of native trees and grains, the massive health and environmental benefits to be gained from harvesting kangaroos. We need to start living in this country like we mean to stay; we need to learn to adapt to it rather than keep trying — and failing — to force it to adapt to us.

From creating urban habitats for native species, to opting for a native marsupial pet, to cultivation of bush foods, to transgenic gum trees, Going Native brims with fascinating ideas and stories, with exciting discoveries and with the spark of passion to set things right.