Omeo
Omeo is a town in Victoria, Australia on the Great Alpine Road, east of Mount Hotham, in the Shire of East Gippsland. At the 2016 census, Omeo had a population of 406; the name is derived from the Aboriginal word for'mountains' or'hills'. Omeo is affectionately known as the City of the Alps with many historic buildings remaining in the town; the town is still the commercial hub for the Omeo Region and is a service centre for outlying communities such as Benambra, Cassilis, Swifts Creek, Ensay. The first reported sighting by Europeans of the wide plain that the Aborigines called'Omeo' was by the naturalist John Lhotsky from the southern Alps in 1834; the area was first visited by stockmen who drove stock through the region as early as 1835. In 1845 gold was found in the Livingstone Creek which runs through Omeo, this caused the population to boom and by 1901, Omeo was at its peak with a population of 9400, they were prosperous times. The main street, Day Avenue, was packed every night with people out strolling and enjoying the evening air.
Hotels and cafes were doing a roaring trade with free-spending miners, businesses were booming. Businesses began to establish themselves. Banks arrived. In 1889, the Colonial Bank of Australia. In 1892, the Commercial Bank. A. J. McDonald, one of the colony's leading architects designed the post and telegraph office and new courthouse, they remain unique for their architecture to this day. The Post Office near its present location opened on 1 January 1858. However, two earlier offices in different locations named Omeo were open in 1851 and 1856 to 1857. Earthquakes in 1885 and 1892, the Black Friday bushfires of 1939, destroyed many buildings, it is now known as Snug as a Bug Motel. In 1851 Reverend W B Clark, a noted geologist reported that he had found evidence of gold in quantities that would make the mining of it economically feasible. Alluvial deposits of gold were found in tributaries of the Livingstone Creek, by the end of 1854, over 200 men were camped along its banks digging for gold, most of it was found within a meter or so of the surface.
The Oriental Claims area alone produced an estimated 58,000 ounces of gold. By 1855, most of the shallow alluvial gold had been mined and the process of hydro-sluicing was introduced to the Omeo goldfields. In an operation that took nine months to complete a water race was constructed along the mountain slopes for a distance of nineteen kilometres. Giant flumes crossed gullies and ravines with the water arriving at about 190 feet above the creek and the alluvial deposits. Races were cut from every stream that could supply water. In the process, water blasted away the alluvial gold-containing gravel and the gravel slush was channelled into rows of wooden sluice boxes and the gold ore collected. At a point when alluvial deposits were diminishing, a miner walked into E J Johnston's general store, the same store that I was to own and manage, to cash in some gold. Johnston paid the man his cash, but as he weighed the gold, he noticed something stuck to the pieces of ore, it was quartz. It heralded the meaning of reef mining.
And a new boom. The first venture into quartz mining was at the Dry Gully field with the first battery being established at Mountain Creek. People came from all over the district to see a local identity, Miss Rogers, smash a large bottle of champagne over the wheel as it started up, christen it the Mountain Maid. Bullock teams hauled multi-headed batteries up the mountains and across the alps to work the new-found reefs. Smile of Fortune, Rip Van Winkel, Happy Go Lucky, The Joker, Inexhaustible were some of the names given to the many reef mines that opened up; the town hosts a range of events including the Mountain Calf Sales and Hinnomunjie Picnic Races in March, an Easter Saturday Rodeo with a town market held at the courthouse gardens prior to the event, Easter Sunday Polo Match at Cobungra Station, Caravan & RV Muster and an Agricultural Show in November. The town has a range of services including a Hospital, Transport Services, Post Office, Shire Services, Engineering & Mechanical, a range of Food & Accommodation outlets.
Attractions include the Justice Precinct which includes a working Court House built in 1893, the Oriental Claims, the Cuckoo Clock shop, white water rafting on the Mitta Mitta River. The Cobungra River, Bundara River, Big River and Mitta Mitta River around nearby Anglers Rest, as well as the Tambo River, all provide good trout fishing; the Australian thriller Red Hill was filmed around the town. "Red Hill" tells the story of a fictional town, Red Hill and an escaped convict returning to the town to seek revenge on those who helped convict him. Due to its location, Omeo has a subtropical highland climate with four distinct seasons and high diurnal range, it is one of the few Australian places outside the Snowy Mountains to have recorded frost in the summer. The Omeo Primary School boasts a long history of providing education in the Omeo Region; the school was once a Primary and Higher Elementary School up until 1977 with enrolments around 100 students, at this time Omeo had a Catholic School which had around 80 students.
Today the school has 50 students and provides quality education for the district, the school grounds are beautiful and vast with pl
International Union for Conservation of Nature
The International Union for Conservation of Nature is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. It is involved in data gathering and analysis, field projects and education. IUCN's mission is to "influence and assist societies throughout the world to conserve nature and to ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable and ecologically sustainable". Over the past decades, IUCN has widened its focus beyond conservation ecology and now incorporates issues related to sustainable development in its projects. Unlike many other international environmental organisations, IUCN does not itself aim to mobilize the public in support of nature conservation, it tries to influence the actions of governments and other stakeholders by providing information and advice, through building partnerships. The organization is best known to the wider public for compiling and publishing the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, which assesses the conservation status of species worldwide.
IUCN has a membership of over 1400 non-governmental organizations. Some 16,000 scientists and experts participate in the work of IUCN commissions on a voluntary basis, it employs 1000 full-time staff in more than 50 countries. Its headquarters are in Switzerland. IUCN has observer and consultative status at the United Nations, plays a role in the implementation of several international conventions on nature conservation and biodiversity, it was involved in establishing the World Wide Fund for Nature and the World Conservation Monitoring Centre. In the past, IUCN has been criticized for placing the interests of nature over those of indigenous peoples. In recent years, its closer relations with the business sector have caused controversy. IUCN was established in 1948, it was called the International Union for the Protection of Nature and the World Conservation Union. Establishment IUCN was established on 5 October 1948, in Fontainebleau, when representatives of governments and conservation organizations signed a formal act constituting the International Union for the Protection of Nature.
The initiative to set up the new organisation came from UNESCO and from its first Director General, the British biologist Julian Huxley. The objectives of the new Union were to encourage international cooperation in the protection of nature, to promote national and international action and to compile and distribute information. At the time of its founding IUPN was the only international organisation focusing on the entire spectrum of nature conservation Early years: 1948–1956 IUPN started out with 65 members, its secretariat was located in Brussels. Its first work program focused on saving species and habitats and applying knowledge, advancing education, promoting international agreements and promoting conservation. Providing a solid scientific base for conservation action was the heart of all activities. IUPN and UNESCO were associated, they jointly organized the 1949 Conference on Protection of Nature. In preparation for this conference a list of gravely endangered species was drawn up for the first time, a precursor of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
In the early years of its existence IUCN depended entirely on UNESCO funding and was forced to temporarily scale down activities when this ended unexpectedly in 1954. IUPN was successful in engaging prominent scientists and identifying important issues such as the harmful effects of pesticides on wildlife but not many of the ideas it developed were turned into action; this was caused by unwillingness to act on the part of governments, uncertainty about the IUPN mandate and lack of resources. In 1956, IUPN changed its name to International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. Increased profile and recognition: 1956–1965 In the 1950s and 1960s Europe entered a period of economic growth and formal colonies became independent. Both developments had impact on the work of IUCN. Through the voluntary involvement of experts in its Commissions IUCN was able to get a lot of work done while still operating on a low budget, it established links with the Council of Europe. In 1961, at the request of United Nations Economic and Social Council, the United Nations Economic and Social Council, IUCN published the first global list of national parks and protected areas which it has updated since.
IUCN's best known publication, the Red Data Book on the conservation status of species, was first published in 1964. IUCN began to play a part in the development of international treaties and conventions, starting with the African Convention on the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. Environmental law and policy making became a new area of expertise. Africa was the focus of many of the early IUCN conservation field projects. IUCN supported the ‘Yellowstone model’ of protected area management, which restricted human presence and activity in order to protect nature. IUCN and other conservation organisations were criticized for protecting nature against people rather than with people; this model was also applied in Africa and played a role in the decision to remove the Maasai people from Serengeti National Park and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. To establish a stable financial basis for its work, IUCN participated in setting up the World Wildlife Fund
Kosciuszko National Park
The Kosciuszko National Park is a 6,900-square-kilometre national park and contains mainland Australia's highest peak, Mount Kosciuszko, for which it is named, Cabramurra the highest town in Australia. Its borders contain a mix of rugged mountains and wilderness, characterised by an alpine climate, which makes it popular with recreational skiers and bushwalkers; the park is located in the southeastern corner of New South Wales, 354 km southwest of Sydney, is contiguous with the Alpine National Park in Victoria to the south, the Namadgi National Park in the Australian Capital Territory to the northeast. The larger towns of Cooma and Jindabyne lie just outside and service the park; the waters of the Snowy River, the Murray River, Gungarlin River all rise in this park. Other notable peaks in the park include Mount Jagungal, Bimberi Peak and Mount Townsend. On 7 November 2008, the Park was added to the Australian National Heritage List as one of eleven areas constituting the Australian Alps National Parks and Reserves.
The Snowy Mountains region is thought to have had Aboriginal occupation for some twenty thousand years, though harsh winter weather made habitation of the snow country impossible. Large-scale intertribal gatherings were held in the High Country during summer for collective feasting on the Bogong moth; this practice continued until around 1864. The area was first explored by Europeans in 1835, in 1840, Edmund Strzelecki ascended Mount Kosciuszko and named it after a Polish patriot. High-country stockmen followed. Banjo Paterson's famous poem The Man From Snowy River recalls this era; the cattle graziers have left a legacy of mountain huts scattered across the area. Today these huts are maintained by the National Parks and Wildlife Service or volunteer organisations like the Kosciuszko Huts Association. In the 19th century, gold was mined on the high plains near Kiandra. At its height, this community had a population of about 4,000 people, ran 14 hotels, it was here that Skiing in Australia commenced around 1861.
Since the last resident left in 1974, Kiandra has become a ghost town of ruins and abandoned diggings. In the 20th century, the focus of Skiing in New South Wales shifted south closer to the Kosciuszko Main Range; the Kosciuszko National Park came into existence as the National Chase Snowy Mountains on 5 December 1906. In April 1944, following the passage of the Kosciusko State Park Act, the Kosciuszko State Park was proclaimed, it became the Kosciuszko National Park in 1967. The name was misspelt as Kosciusko until 1997; the construction of the Snowy Mountains Scheme between 1949–74 saw much of the area explored, brought improvements to roads and resulted in the construction of several dams and tunnels across the Park in one of the world's largest engineering achievements Kosciuszko National Park has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: Currango Homestead The higher regions of the park experience an alpine climate, unusual on mainland Australia. However, only the peaks of the main range are subject to consistent heavy winter snow.
The climate station at Charlotte Pass recorded Australia's lowest temperature of −23 °C on 28 June 1994. During the last ice age, which peaked about 20,000 years ago in the Pleistocene epoch, the highest peaks of the main range near Mount Kosciuszko experienced a climate which favoured the formation of glaciers, evidence of which can still be seen today. Cirques moraines, tarn lakes, roche moutonnées and other glacial features can all be seen in the area. Lake Cootapatamba, formed by an ice spilling from Mount Kosciuszko's southern flank, is the highest lake on the Australian mainland. Lake Albina, Club Lake, Blue Lake, Hedley Tarn have glacial origins. There is some disagreement as to how widespread Pleistocene glaciation was on the main range, little or no evidence from earlier glacial periods exists. The'David Moraine', a one-kilometre-long ridge running across Spencers Creek valley seems to indicate a larger glacier existed in this area at some time, however the glacial origin of this feature is disputed.
There is evidence of periglacial activity in the area. Solifluction appears to have created terraces on the northwest flank of Mount Northcote. Frost heave is a significant agent of soil erosion in the Kosciuszko Area; the Kosciuszko National Park covers a variety of climatic regions which support several distinct ecosystems. That, most identified with the park, the alpine area above the tree line, is one of the most fragile and covers the smallest area; this area is a patchwork of alpine heaths, feldmarks and fens. The windswept feldmark ecotope is endemic to the alpine region, covers a mere 300,000 m2, it is most vulnerable to the wandering footsteps of unmindful tourists. Nine separate wilderness zones have been identified in the latest management scheme; these include the Indi, Pilot, Bogong Peaks, Western Falls and Bimberi wilderness areas. Many rare or threatened plant and animal species occur within the boundaries of the park; the park is home to one of Australia's most threatened species: the corroboree frog.
The endangered mountain pygmy possum and the more common dusky antechinus are located in the high country of the park. There are significant populations of feral animals in the park, including brumbies or wild horses. Park authorities have coordinated their culling and relocation, leading to public controversy over how to reduce their numbers; the actual number of horses within the park is difficult to ascertain with estimates ranging from 1700 in 2008 increasing by 300 each year, 7679 in 2009, from 2500 to 14,000 in
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state on the east coast of Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria to the south, South Australia to the west, its coast borders the Tasman Sea to the east. The Australian Capital Territory is an enclave within the state. New South Wales' state capital is Sydney, Australia's most populous city. In September 2018, the population of New South Wales was over 8 million, making it Australia's most populous state. Just under two-thirds of the state's population, 5.1 million, live in the Greater Sydney area. Inhabitants of New South Wales are referred to as New South Welshmen; the Colony of New South Wales was founded as a penal colony in 1788. It comprised more than half of the Australian mainland with its western boundary set at 129th meridian east in 1825; the colony included the island territories of New Zealand, Van Diemen's Land, Lord Howe Island, Norfolk Island. During the 19th century, most of the colony's area was detached to form separate British colonies that became New Zealand and the various states and territories of Australia.
However, the Swan River Colony has never been administered as part of New South Wales. Lord Howe Island remains part of New South Wales, while Norfolk Island has become a federal territory, as have the areas now known as the Australian Capital Territory and the Jervis Bay Territory; the prior inhabitants of New South Wales were the Aboriginal tribes who arrived in Australia about 40,000 to 60,000 years ago. Before European settlement there were an estimated 250,000 Aboriginal people in the region; the Wodi Wodi people are the original custodians of the Illawarra region of South Sydney. Speaking a variant of the Dharawal language, the Wodi Wodi people lived across a large stretch of land, surrounded by what is now known as Campbelltown, Shoalhaven River and Moss Vale; the Bundjalung people are the original custodians of parts of the northern coastal areas. The European discovery of New South Wales was made by Captain James Cook during his 1770 survey along the unmapped eastern coast of the Dutch-named continent of New Holland, now Australia.
In his original journal covering the survey, in triplicate to satisfy Admiralty Orders, Cook first named the land "New Wales", named after Wales. However, in the copy held by the Admiralty, he "revised the wording" to "New South Wales"; the first British settlement was made by. After years of chaos and anarchy after the overthrow of Governor William Bligh, a new governor, Lieutenant-Colonel Lachlan Macquarie, was sent from Britain to reform the settlement in 1809. During his time as governor, Macquarie commissioned the construction of roads, wharves and public buildings, sent explorers out from Sydney and employed a planner to design the street layout of Sydney. Macquarie's legacy is still evident today. During the 19th century, large areas were successively separated to form the British colonies of Tasmania, South Australia and Queensland. Responsible government was granted to the New South Wales colony in 1855. Following the Treaty of Waitangi, William Hobson declared British sovereignty over New Zealand in 1840.
In 1841 it was separated from the Colony of New South Wales to form the new Colony of New Zealand. Charles Darwin visited Australia in January 1836 and in The Voyage of the Beagle records his hesitations about and fascination with New South Wales, including his speculations about the geological origin and formation of the great valleys, the aboriginal population, the situation of the convicts, the future prospects of the country. At the end of the 19th century, the movement toward federation between the Australian colonies gathered momentum. Conventions and forums involving colony leaders were held on a regular basis. Proponents of New South Wales as a free trade state were in dispute with the other leading colony Victoria, which had a protectionist economy. At this time customs posts were common on borders on the Murray River. Travelling from New South Wales to Victoria in those days was difficult. Supporters of federation included the New South Wales premier Sir Henry Parkes whose 1889 Tenterfield Speech was pivotal in gathering support for New South Wales involvement.
Edmund Barton to become Australia's first Prime Minister, was another strong advocate for federation and a meeting held in Corowa in 1893 drafted an initial constitution. In 1898 popular referenda on the proposed federation were held in New South Wales, South Australia and Tasmania. All votes resulted in a majority in favour, but the New South Wales government under Premier George Reid had set a requirement for a higher "yes" vote than just a simple majority, not met. In 1899 further referenda were held in the same states as well as Queensland. All resulted in yes votes with majorities increased from the previous year. New South Wales met the conditions; as a compromise to the question on where the capital was to be located, an agreement was made that the site was to be within New South Wales but not closer than 100 miles from Sydney, while the provisional capital would be Melbourne. The area that now forms the Australian Capital Territory was ceded by New South Wales when Canberra was selected.
In the years after World War I, the high prices enjoyed durin
Australian Alps National Parks and Reserves
The Australian Alps National Parks and Reserves is a group of eleven protected areas consisting of national parks, nature reserves and one wilderness park located in the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales and Victoria and, listed as a "place" on the Australian National Heritage List on 7 November 2008 under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. The listing which covers an area of 16,531.80 square kilometres, contains the vast majority of alpine and sub-alpine environments in Australia. The listing includes the following protected areas - Alpine, Baw Baw, Kosciuszko, Mount Buffalo and Snowy River national parks. Australian Alps List of Australian Capital Territory protected areas Protected areas of New South Wales Protected areas of Victoria Media related to Australian Alps National Parks and Reserves at Wikimedia Commons Australian Alps National Parks and Reserves. Department of the Environment. 2008. "The Australian Alps". Department of the Environment National Heritage List.
Australian Government. 2008
Australia
Australia the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area; the neighbouring countries are Papua New Guinea and East Timor to the north. The population of 25 million is urbanised and concentrated on the eastern seaboard. Australia's capital is Canberra, its largest city is Sydney; the country's other major metropolitan areas are Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide. Australia was inhabited by indigenous Australians for about 60,000 years before the first British settlement in the late 18th century, it is documented. After the European exploration of the continent by Dutch explorers in 1606, who named it New Holland, Australia's eastern half was claimed by Great Britain in 1770 and settled through penal transportation to the colony of New South Wales from 26 January 1788, a date which became Australia's national day; the population grew in subsequent decades, by the 1850s most of the continent had been explored and an additional five self-governing crown colonies established.
On 1 January 1901, the six colonies federated. Australia has since maintained a stable liberal democratic political system that functions as a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy, comprising six states and ten territories. Being the oldest and driest inhabited continent, with the least fertile soils, Australia has a landmass of 7,617,930 square kilometres. A megadiverse country, its size gives it a wide variety of landscapes, with deserts in the centre, tropical rainforests in the north-east and mountain ranges in the south-east. A gold rush began in Australia in the early 1850s, its population density, 2.8 inhabitants per square kilometre, remains among the lowest in the world. Australia generates its income from various sources including mining-related exports, telecommunications and manufacturing. Indigenous Australian rock art is the oldest and richest in the world, dating as far back as 60,000 years and spread across hundreds of thousands of sites. Australia is a developed country, with the world's 14th-largest economy.
It has a high-income economy, with the world's tenth-highest per capita income. It is a regional power, has the world's 13th-highest military expenditure. Australia has the world's ninth-largest immigrant population, with immigrants accounting for 26% of the population. Having the third-highest human development index and the eighth-highest ranked democracy globally, the country ranks in quality of life, education, economic freedom, civil liberties and political rights, with all its major cities faring well in global comparative livability surveys. Australia is a member of the United Nations, G20, Commonwealth of Nations, ANZUS, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, World Trade Organization, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, Pacific Islands Forum and the ASEAN Plus Six mechanism; the name Australia is derived from the Latin Terra Australis, a name used for a hypothetical continent in the Southern Hemisphere since ancient times. When Europeans first began visiting and mapping Australia in the 17th century, the name Terra Australis was applied to the new territories.
Until the early 19th century, Australia was best known as "New Holland", a name first applied by the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman in 1644 and subsequently anglicised. Terra Australis still saw occasional usage, such as in scientific texts; the name Australia was popularised by the explorer Matthew Flinders, who said it was "more agreeable to the ear, an assimilation to the names of the other great portions of the earth". The first time that Australia appears to have been used was in April 1817, when Governor Lachlan Macquarie acknowledged the receipt of Flinders' charts of Australia from Lord Bathurst. In December 1817, Macquarie recommended to the Colonial Office. In 1824, the Admiralty agreed that the continent should be known by that name; the first official published use of the new name came with the publication in 1830 of The Australia Directory by the Hydrographic Office. Colloquial names for Australia include "Oz" and "the Land Down Under". Other epithets include "the Great Southern Land", "the Lucky Country", "the Sunburnt Country", "the Wide Brown Land".
The latter two both derive from Dorothea Mackellar's 1908 poem "My Country". Human habitation of the Australian continent is estimated to have begun around 65,000 to 70,000 years ago, with the migration of people by land bridges and short sea-crossings from what is now Southeast Asia; these first inhabitants were the ancestors of modern Indigenous Australians. Aboriginal Australian culture is one of the oldest continual civilisations on earth. At the time of first European contact, most Indigenous Australians were hunter-gatherers with complex economies and societies. Recent archaeological finds suggest. Indigenous Australians have an oral culture with spiritual values based on reverence for the land and a belief in the Dreamtime; the Torres Strait Islanders, ethnically Melanesian, obtained their livelihood from seasonal horticulture and the resources of their reefs and seas. The northern coasts and waters of Australia were visited s
