Cape Barren Island, Tasmania
Encyclopedia
Cape Barren Island is located off the north east coast of Tasmania
, Australia
, and is one of the islands of the Furneaux Group in Bass Strait
. The largest island of the group, Flinders Island
, lies to the north, with the smaller Clarke Island
to the south. The highest point on the island is Mount Munro
at 715 metres . Mount Munro is probably named after James Munro
(ca. 1779-1845), a former convict and then sealer, who lived from the 1820s for more than 20 years with several women on nearby Preservation Island
.
The island has an area of 478.4 km² (184.7 sq mi). The population of the island numbered 268 in 2006, most of them in the settlement Cape Barren Island, also called The Corner, on the northwest coast.
Australia's only native goose, the Cape Barren Goose
, was first sighted on this island.
community of approximately 70 people. Most of the residents are descended from a community of mixed descent (European and Aboriginal people) who had originally settled on several smaller nearby islands but relocated to Cape Barren Island in the late 1870s. The Colonial Government of Tasmania established a formal reserve in 1881 and commenced providing basic social services to the community. By 1908 the population had grown to 250 people.
More active government intervention began in 1912 with the passage of the Cape Barren Act. The stated purpose of this act was to encourage the community to become self-sufficient through both incentives and disincentives. Government visits throughout the 1920s and 1930s reported poor health and education and proposals were made to remove children from their parents, ostensibly for their own benefit. Under threat of losing their children many families relocated to mainland Tasmania
. By 1944 the population had fallen to 106. From the 1950s the government did indeed remove children from their parents. This forced removal of children was part of a wider policy implemented in many parts of Australia and over a number of decades that resulted in the phenomenon known as the 'stolen generations'. From the 1970s a series of changed government policies were implemented that provided increasingly greater recognition of the personal and social rights of individuals.
On 10 May 2005, the government released Crown lands on both Cape Barren and Clarke Island
to be overseen by the local Aboriginal association. This marked the first official handover of Crown land to an Aboriginal community in Tasmania.
s of international importance by being designated Ramsar
site no.256. The site comprises a 4,370 ha complex of shallow, saline
lagoon
s among stretches of coastal dune
s and beach
es. It supports various plants of special botanical interest, including nationally rare species, as well as many waterbirds.
, Victoria
or Launceston
, Tasmania
to Flinders Island
. From Flinders Island, Cape Barren island is only a short boat or plane trip away. Cape Barren, with the other islands in the Furneaux Group, are a popular destination for sea kayakers who attempt the crossing of Bass Strait
from the Australian mainland at Wilsons Promontory
, Victoria to the Tasmanian mainland.
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, and is one of the islands of the Furneaux Group in Bass Strait
Bass Strait
Bass Strait is a sea strait separating Tasmania from the south of the Australian mainland, specifically the state of Victoria.-Extent:The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Bass Strait as follows:...
. The largest island of the group, Flinders Island
Flinders Island, Tasmania
Flinders Island is an island in Bass Strait. It is from Cape Portland, the north-eastern tip of Tasmania, Australia and is the largest island in the Furneaux Group.-History:...
, lies to the north, with the smaller Clarke Island
Clarke Island, Tasmania
Part of the Furneaux Group, Clarke Island has an area of and is located off the northeast coast of Tasmania, south of Cape Barren Island. Off its west coast lies the shipwreck of the Litherland, which sank 1853 and was discovered in 1983...
to the south. The highest point on the island is Mount Munro
Mount Munro
Mount Munro is, at 715 metres, the highest point on Cape Barren Island in Bass Strait, Tasmania, Australia . It was probably named after James Munro , a former convict who had been a sealer and beachcomber in Bass Strait from the early 1820s and lived for more than twenty years on nearby...
at 715 metres . Mount Munro is probably named after James Munro
James Munro
James Munro may refer to:*James Munro , Australian politician*James Wright Munro, New Zealand politician*James Munro , Scottish soldier* James Munro, pseudonym of British thriller writer James Mitchell...
(ca. 1779-1845), a former convict and then sealer, who lived from the 1820s for more than 20 years with several women on nearby Preservation Island
Preservation Island
Preservation Island is a low and undulating granite and calcarenite island, with an area of 207 ha, in south-eastern Australia. It is part of Tasmania’s Preservation Island Group, lying in eastern Bass Strait south-west of Cape Barren Island in the Furneaux Group, and is an important historic...
.
The island has an area of 478.4 km² (184.7 sq mi). The population of the island numbered 268 in 2006, most of them in the settlement Cape Barren Island, also called The Corner, on the northwest coast.
Australia's only native goose, the Cape Barren Goose
Cape Barren Goose
The Cape Barren Goose is a large goose resident in southern Australia. The species is named for Cape Barren Island, where specimens were first sighted by European explorers.-Taxonomy:...
, was first sighted on this island.
History and people
Today the residents of Cape Barren Island consist of an AboriginalAustralian Aborigines
Australian Aborigines , also called Aboriginal Australians, from the latin ab originem , are people who are indigenous to most of the Australian continentthat is, to mainland Australia and the island of Tasmania...
community of approximately 70 people. Most of the residents are descended from a community of mixed descent (European and Aboriginal people) who had originally settled on several smaller nearby islands but relocated to Cape Barren Island in the late 1870s. The Colonial Government of Tasmania established a formal reserve in 1881 and commenced providing basic social services to the community. By 1908 the population had grown to 250 people.
More active government intervention began in 1912 with the passage of the Cape Barren Act. The stated purpose of this act was to encourage the community to become self-sufficient through both incentives and disincentives. Government visits throughout the 1920s and 1930s reported poor health and education and proposals were made to remove children from their parents, ostensibly for their own benefit. Under threat of losing their children many families relocated to mainland Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
. By 1944 the population had fallen to 106. From the 1950s the government did indeed remove children from their parents. This forced removal of children was part of a wider policy implemented in many parts of Australia and over a number of decades that resulted in the phenomenon known as the 'stolen generations'. From the 1970s a series of changed government policies were implemented that provided increasingly greater recognition of the personal and social rights of individuals.
On 10 May 2005, the government released Crown lands on both Cape Barren and Clarke Island
Clarke Island, Tasmania
Part of the Furneaux Group, Clarke Island has an area of and is located off the northeast coast of Tasmania, south of Cape Barren Island. Off its west coast lies the shipwreck of the Litherland, which sank 1853 and was discovered in 1983...
to be overseen by the local Aboriginal association. This marked the first official handover of Crown land to an Aboriginal community in Tasmania.
East coast lagoons Ramsar site
On 16 November 1982, the east coast lagoons were recognised as being wetlandWetland
A wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with water either permanently or seasonally. Wetlands are categorised by their characteristic vegetation, which is adapted to these unique soil conditions....
s of international importance by being designated Ramsar
Ramsar Convention
The Ramsar Convention is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable utilization of wetlands, i.e., to stem the progressive encroachment on and loss of wetlands now and in the future, recognizing the fundamental ecological functions of wetlands and their economic, cultural,...
site no.256. The site comprises a 4,370 ha complex of shallow, saline
Salinity
Salinity is the saltiness or dissolved salt content of a body of water. It is a general term used to describe the levels of different salts such as sodium chloride, magnesium and calcium sulfates, and bicarbonates...
lagoon
Lagoon
A lagoon is a body of shallow sea water or brackish water separated from the sea by some form of barrier. The EU's habitat directive defines lagoons as "expanses of shallow coastal salt water, of varying salinity or water volume, wholly or partially separated from the sea by sand banks or shingle,...
s among stretches of coastal dune
Dune
In physical geography, a dune is a hill of sand built by wind. Dunes occur in different forms and sizes, formed by interaction with the wind. Most kinds of dunes are longer on the windward side where the sand is pushed up the dune and have a shorter "slip face" in the lee of the wind...
s and beach
Beach
A beach is a geological landform along the shoreline of an ocean, sea, lake or river. It usually consists of loose particles which are often composed of rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles or cobblestones...
es. It supports various plants of special botanical interest, including nationally rare species, as well as many waterbirds.
Access
The island can be reached by air from either MelbourneMelbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
or Launceston
Launceston, Tasmania
Launceston is a city in the north of the state of Tasmania, Australia at the junction of the North Esk and South Esk rivers where they become the Tamar River. Launceston is the second largest city in Tasmania after the state capital Hobart...
, Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
to Flinders Island
Flinders Island
Flinders Island may refer to:In Australia:* Flinders Island , in the Furneaux Group, is the largest and best known* Flinders Island * Flinders Island , in the Investigator Group* Flinders Island...
. From Flinders Island, Cape Barren island is only a short boat or plane trip away. Cape Barren, with the other islands in the Furneaux Group, are a popular destination for sea kayakers who attempt the crossing of Bass Strait
Bass Strait
Bass Strait is a sea strait separating Tasmania from the south of the Australian mainland, specifically the state of Victoria.-Extent:The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Bass Strait as follows:...
from the Australian mainland at Wilsons Promontory
Wilsons Promontory
Wilsons Promontory is a peninsula that forms the southernmost part of the Australian mainland and is located at . South Point at is the southernmost tip of Wilsons Promontory and hence of mainland Australia...
, Victoria to the Tasmanian mainland.