Secondary Catalogue

In recent history, Australia's relationship with nature has evolved with the arrival of settlers and increased population. We are more aware of the importance of preserving our natural environment. In this programme we investigate how white settlers with a different view on nature attempted to modify Australia's landscape to suit foreign farming practices. Nature was a tough adversary, but provided the early Europeans with enough resource to grow into a nation. We discuss the creation of Australia's first national park in 1878, which forever changed future relationships with the land. Also investigated is the need to respect historical, traditional and cultural heritages of the land. Show Less

The 21 Ada Street Sustainable House Documentary is a comprehensive audio/visual record of the development of a sustainable house in Adelaide, showcasing details of the methodology and products of sustainable building practices. The documentary is designed to be a significant step-by-step record of the design and construction processes, recorded in a structured way. It includes high quality video coverage of each of the construction phases, and will serve as a long-term record of a significant example of sustainable architecture. Each step of the fascinating building process is filmed during the 7 month building programme. Show Less

In the sea life is everywhere, but five habitats are like underwater cities. They are coral reefs, mangroves, salt marshes, sea grass beds and kelp forests. They provide safety, food, and a nursery for the young of many species. Yet they are in critical danger because we humans are rapidly destroying them. This programme seeks to explain why these five habitats are very important to life in the sea and to point to the fact that they are all in decline. They are being damaged by human activity... some are being cleared away for ports or housing, some are damaged by trawling nets or dredge silt, as well as pollution, overfishing, or the slow but undeniable outcomes of global warming... to name only a few of the reasons. We need to try and stop this worrying trend. Show Less

For centuries, billiard balls were made of ivory from elephant tusks. But when excessive hunting caused elephant populations to decline, they began to look for alternatives. John Wesley Hyatt took up the challenge. In five years, he invented a new material called celluloid, which would become known as the first plastic. Trace the history of the material that ushered in the “plastics century.” Show Less

There are infinite opportunities and benefits created by renewable energy, ecologically sustainable farming, and green buildings and lifestyles. "A Smarter Country" follows Sydney’s Lord Mayor Clover Moore, Environmentalist Professor Tim Flannery, Australian Greens Senator Christine Milne, and Matthew Wright from Beyond Zero Emissions, as they work to embrace environmental change and educate the public. Through "A Smarter Country" we glimpse a future that moves from old technologies to a world that is more creative, sustainable and equitable, and the pioneering people who are intent on taking us there. Show Less

It’s 1987, South Sudan is in conflict, children from villages are seized and forced to join enemy armed forces. Eleven-year-old Abraham is herding cattle in the fields when pandemonium broke out in the village: gunfire, screaming and the village torched. He and the other boys run for their lives. It would be thirty years before he is reunited with the rest his family. With a group of children, he walks for months to the relative safety of Ethiopia. Here they build a camp and live for four years. Then once again war forces them to walk for another year, back to South Sudan and then to Kenya. Wherever they go the boys play football. Luckily, Abraham is a natural and finds recognition and acclaim. Football is his safe place, his family, his home. Show Less

This excellent resource examines the current issues surrounding an ageing population in the UK, using East Devon as a case study. It illustrates the causes, impacts and management of the UK's ageing population and changing dependency ration. It shows how governments, NGOs and individuals are meeting the challenges at a national and local level. It then explores the strain on healthcare, transport, housing, the pensions time bomb and the growing crisis of care. Show Less

In this program we follow a project where an entire tract of bushland is moved from one location to another. We explore: - Project planning, execution, completion and assessment. - Scientific trials and scientific method used as a basis for project planning. - The need for compromise and the constant need to juggle the demands of time, money and politics. - Factors involved in assessing the success of a project. Show Less

Despite water covering 71% of the planet’s surface, more than half the world’s population endures extreme water scarcity for at least one month a year. Current estimates predict that by 2040, up to 20 more countries could be experiencing water shortages. These statistics raise a startling question: is the Earth running out of clean water? Balsher Singh Sidhu takes a closer look at water consumption. Show Less

It’s 1999 and Atika and her family flee to a refugee camp in Quata, Pakistan. They are Hazara people and Afghanistan has become too dangerous for them. Atika being a girl could not be educated in the small country village where they had lived because girls once they are over 10 years old are not allowed to leave the house unaccompanied. Atika’s 60-year old father leaves his family and makes his way to Australia in the hope of creating a better life for them. Before he leaves, he urges Attika to study diligently in the refugee camp while she waits for their acceptance into Australia. This is the story of a girl who given the opportunities of a free and democratic nation becomes a highly educated and grateful Australian. Show Less

Join us on a whirlwind tour of Australia's diverse natural and man-made environments. We kick off with the Great Dividing Range's impact on rainfall and human habitation, and then dive into the Great Barrier Reef, revealing the impact of global warming on this fragile ecosystem. Next we explore the indigenous connection with Kakadu National Park and Uluru, before examining the significance of the Murray-Darling Basin as Australia's food bowl. We conclude with the gradual erosion of the Twelve Apostles and two of Australia's most significant urban environments - Canberra, the nation's capital, and Sydney, the international face of Australia. Show Less

Geographically, Australia is part of the region known as the Asia-Pacific Region. A region is a human concept that can be mapped and analysed. (Definition: Regions are identified as having something in common that identifies them, such as a type of government, spoken language, landforms, or location). The region of the Asia-Pacific identified by the location of nations bordering on or within the Pacific Ocean. This program examines the geographic and economic characteristics of nations in the Asia Pacific Region. It also explores the impending threat from climate change for many of its low-lying island nations. As a result of Australia’s proximity and relative prosperity to other nations in this region, Australia has the opportunity to play a major role with regard to aid, foreign policy, trade, immigration and tourism. This region is well known for its political instability, and forging close links with Governments in the region is important to Australia’s national interest. Specifically, this program spells out Australia'’s role with regard to aid, trade, foreign policy, immigration and tourism in the Asia-Pacific Region. It also explores the close relationship Australia has with New Zealand. Show Less

Produced in conjunction with the Australian Nature Conservation Agency, this program is an introduction to some of the nation's rare and threatened species. By exploring some of Australia's fragile ecosystems, we define the links between biophysical environments and species diversity. Emphasising careful ecological management, the program outlines what each species needs to survive. Some of the examples shown are the Wollemi Pine, the Dugong, Leadbeater's Possum and the Green Sea turtle. Show Less

Everyone likes to visit the beach. But for living things a beach represents one of the toughest environments on earth. Beaches are in constant flux, hammered by waves and wind and extremes of temperature, sometimes submerged and sometimes dry. Beach erosion threatens human activities too. This program looks at many aspects of beaches, from the life in the littoral zone to the basic geology of beaches. Show Less

Bangladesh's Sundarban Mangroves is one of the world's most bio-diverse areas and home to the endangered Bengal Tiger. This video resource bank looks at why the Sundarbans is so important: as a bio-diversity hotspot, as a carbon bank and as protection against the impacts of tropical cyclones. It examines the threats, including climate change, shrimp farming, poaching and tiger killings. It then explores how they can be sustainably managed and by whom. Case studies include; a tiger conservation project, eco-tourism and government initiatives to control resource exploitation. Show Less