The Biggest Estate on Earth by Bill Gammage

Discover the Secret of Aboriginal Land Management 

Uncover the complex, country-wide systems of land management used by Aboriginal people with "The Biggest Estate on Earth" by Bill Gammage. Based on over a decade of research, this book explodes the myth that pre-settlement Australia was an untamed wilderness and reveal the truth about the systematic and scientific fashion in which the land was managed.

Early Europeans often commented that the Australian landscape looked like a park, with extensive grassy patches, open woodlands and abundant wildlife. Gammage has discovered that this was because Aboriginal people managed the land in a way that ensured plentiful wildlife and plant foods throughout the year.

We now know why Aboriginal people spent far less time and effort in securing food and shelter compared to the Europeans. The Biggest Estate on Earth details the land-management strategies used by Aboriginal people from around Australia, and how these strategies provided them with everything they needed to survive.

Once Aboriginal people were no longer able to tend their country, it became overgrown and vulnerable to the hugely damaging bushfires we now experience. With this new information, "The Biggest Estate on Earth" rewrites the history of the continent and has huge implications for the way we manage the land today.

Don't miss out on this groundbreaking book that will change the way you think about the history and management of the Australian landscape.

434 pages