Cape barren

Space image of the island

The landscape of the island is dominated by plain or hilly lowlands , as well as granite mountains of the Devonian period . On the coast there are sandy beaches with rocky cliffs. In the east of the island are dunes and swamps . The average height of the Cape Barren Mountains is 500-600 meters above sea level. The highest point of the island is Mount Munro (687 m). Area - 478.4 ^[1] km².

The island's vegetation is predominantly represented by moorlands , which are largely susceptible to fires.

At Cape Barren, the only native goose species in Australia, Lat. Cereopsis novaehollandiae .

The first settlement on Cape Barren appeared at the beginning of the 19th century , when European sealers brought Aboriginal women from the island of Tasmania to the island, who were supposed to be forced laborers and wives. In the 1850s, the main occupation of local residents instead of hunting seals was sheep breeding, and the inhabitants themselves led a mixed lifestyle: it traced the features of Europeans and Aboriginal people.

Since 1866, residents of Cape Barren have requested that the island be transferred to communal land ownership based on their indigenous roots. However, their requests were constantly rejected. Instead, in 1881, a reservation was founded here, in which 80 people lived. According to the Cape Barren Island Reservation Act of 1912, residents of the island were recognized as natives. However, in 1951, according to state policy on the assimilation of natives, this law was repealed, and the population was again recognized as non-indigenous.

Between the 1940s and 1970s, due to unemployment and government assimilation policies, most of the residents of Cape Barren were forced to relocate to other islands in the Bass Strait. Currently, there is a small settlement of 268 people on it ( 2006 ), which has a school, post office, small day nursery, a shop and an Anglican church . The Cape Barren runway is located about 3 km from the village, where there is also a small marina.

• Prineas, P., Lembit, R., Fisher, N., 1986, Australia's Wilderness An Inventory.
• Jones, R., et. al., 1979, Center for Environmental Studies, Occasional Paper 10, University of Tasmania, "Wilderness in Tasmania: A Report to the Australian Heritage Commission".

• Cape Barren Reserve Act, 1912 (unopened) (unavailable link) . Archived on October 6, 2007.
• Cape Barren Island (unopened) (link not available) . Archived on September 27, 2004.
• About Cape Barren Island (unopened) (link unavailable) . Archived on September 28, 2007.
• National Wilderness Red Index. Cape Barren Island (unopened) (link not available) . Date of treatment July 5, 2007. Archived on August 29, 2007.