Cloud Land: The Dramatic Story of Australia's Extraordinary Rainforest People and Country

by Penny van Oosterzee

A sweeping account of Australia's wet tropical rainforest country, from deep time to the legendary time of Australia's first peoples; from the killing times and maniacal destruction of the forests by European settlers, to the present time of growing awareness of forests as the life-force of the planet.

Wreathed in morning mist, the rainforest is a place where evolution and legend rule. Where the thunderbird once roamed, now kangaroos climb trees, which reach into the clouds to strip them of water.

On their property on the Atherton Tablelands, Penny van Oosterzee and her husband are regenerating rainforest from paddocks, reconnecting fragments into a living corridor that will run to the Daintree and beyond. Penny weaves this personal experience into a sweeping account of Australia's rainforests, from their swampy birth millions of years ago to the present.

Creation stories and science bleed together for rainforest people who remember through legend the volcanic creation of the tablelands. They managed Country for thousands of years, stitched into the patterns of the forest. Then came the European settlers and the killing times. The giant cedars were pillaged in a frenzy, and the richest rainforests in the world were cleared to make way for small unsustainable cattle farms for the settlers.

After bitterly fought battles against logging, much of Australia's remaining wet tropical rainforest is now World Heritage-listed and is once again being managed by Traditional Owners. Will the unique capacity of these rainforests to counteract climate change be their salvation, or will they continue to be vulnerable to exploitation for short-term gain?

'I challenge anyone who starts this book to put it down without first devouring it from cover to cover' — Professor Mike Archer AM, University of New South Wales 

'A delight to read'  —   Mike Berwick, former mayor of Douglas Shire

'Driven by a love of the wet tropical forests, Penny van Oosterzee tells their story from deep time to the present'   — Libby Connors, author of Warrior

Genres: Nonfiction

320 pages, Paperback

Published February 13, 2024

Reviews

[Rozanna Lilley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cloud Land is an important and ambitious book. It covers enormous territory - evolutionary history, the changing shape of the earth, shifts in climate, the formation of Australia. Sometimes this long duree is dizzying in scope. Van Oosterzee writes passionately about recognising the wisdom of Aboriginal land management practices and unflinchingly documents the ravages of European invasion and settlement on both land and people. At the heart of the book is her own attachment to place - a parcel of land she and others are trying to "rewild" in the Atherton Tablelands. I learned so much from this well-researched book. It is both intensely depressing and uplifting. For those who want to know more about Australia's rainforests or understand what is at stake in climate activism right now, this is essential reading.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn’t really know what to expect going into this, and thought it was more about Penny and her family’s experience of regenerating their land in far north QLD. Turns out it’s a lot of history and science of the land all the way from the forming of the continents and beginnings of life, to the interactions of white settlers with (as she calls them) ‘the rainforest people’. The book appears extremely well informed with many notes and I did learn or re-learn a lot about the environment in far north QLD, even if it sometimes made my brain hurt.
I didn’t anticipate how affected I would feel by Penny’s sharing and descriptions of the damage inflicted on the landscape and groups of Indigenous Australians by settlers and the bleakness and warnings that she transmitted clearly in her writing. The many previous governments’ policies seem to have been very unhelpful, but I feel like there could’ve been more exploration of what future policies are needed to help.

[Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

Van Oosterzee has divided this history roughly into two halves: the first delves back into Deep Time to cover the development of the Wet Tropics, and specifically her corner of it in the Atherton Tablelands. The second covers the last couple of hundred years, the invasion and colonisation of the land and the environmental work.
The first section captures the breath-catching wonder of the Wet Tropics rainforest. Part of what is so captivating about this region, is that a short meander is like a wander through time. It will take you past plants that evolved millions of years ago, nestled alongside (or on) species just a few hundred thousand years old and total newcomers (like us). Van Oosterzee vividly documents this history with language that shows she loves this too, and provides a highly accessible and well-referenced account of how our forests, continent and people formed. It is evident that she has spent time with local Elders in conveying respectful, outsider accounts of the continent's First Nations, which blends together various worldviews.
The second half - somewhat disconcertingly titled "people of the rainforest" - is based on European viewpoints, both of the various Aboriginal nations in the region and then of the history of colonisation. This felt like a rapid tonal shift, and lacking the wonder and scale of early sections, fell a little flat for me. It is a concise, accessible history, however, covering the various attempts to destroy and conserve.
All up, this would be a great volume for a trip to the region and manages a lot in a relatively compact volume.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an amazing book tracing the geological, ecological and cultural aspects of the World Heritage listed wet tropics of Far North Queensland (from the Atherton tablelands to beyond Cooktown). The author acknowledges the stewardship of First Nations people of 18 rainforest communities who sustained this Country for tens of thousands of years. The book includes the remarkable true story of how this Country was almost destroyed through unsustainable cattle farming and how, through political struggle, care for this ecologically and cultural significant place(s) is/ are now restored to its Traditional Owners. So why not five stars? The book is dense and a bit uneven, leading to some ‘facts’ being examined in minute detail (e.g., names of bacteria that supported the unique biodiversity long before human ‘settlement’) to then sweeping and sudden jumps in time, e.g., from a discussion of white settlers in the 19th century, to mid 20th century cattle farming practices, to an exploration of hippie communes/ rainforest activism in the 1970s (all a space of about 40pages). Yet, I am glad to have found this book and it has opened my eyes to the ecological and cultural significance of the wet tropics of far north qld and the greater story of life on earth.

[Annette · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first half of this book tells the story of evolution - plants, animals and humans - from an Australian, and especially Queensland, perspective, with descriptions of the role of geological and resulting climate changes in driving the environmental changes that drive evolution. The author contrasts the pace of recent climate and environmental changes with previous changes caused by changes in the Earth's tilt and in continental movements. The second half focuses on the greed, rapaciousness and stupidity and horrendous violence of Australia's (especially Queensland's) colonial and subsequent past. It ends with some guarded optimism about the future.

The author has an engaging, down-to-earth writing style, that demonstrates her passion and deep research. She weaves together personal recollections and comments with scientific facts and historical records (including damning quotes from colonial 'leaders' and settlers). Some diagrams would have supported the scientific descriptions. Well worth reading for anyone concerned about environmental degradation, climate change and Australia's treatment of indigenous peoples.

[Sandra Wheeler · Rating 5 out of 5]

FANTASTIC, So much research has gone into this wonderful book. A mix of ancient history, archeology, evolution of plants and animals including humans, the sad story of the genocide of Queenslands indigenous people, the destruction of native forests and efforts to restore them, and so much more. I was fascinated from the start and never lost interest. will read it again to absorb more of the information. As a bush regenerator, I found so much of it very interesting, and wish I could do more to prevent the inevitable loss of so many species and forests as part of climate change

[Jenny Kirkby · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. First half is essentially a summary of life on earth, particularly as pertains to FNQ rainforests. I think I would have got more out of this if I was already a natural history buff. The second half contained only a small amount about the rainforest people and was more a rant about European colonisation of FNQ and ongoing government mismanagement. Conservationist vs Capitalist. Interesting content but somehow this book did not meet expectations.

[Kate J · Rating 4 out of 5]

An important book covering the deep geological and evolutionary forces that created the tropical rainforest landscapes of North Queensland. Penny van Oosterzee covers the most rapid and serious of these in Part 2; the sustainable and long interactions between the forests and the Kuku Yalanji and the brutal takeover by settlers bringing only extractive and genocidal mindsets. The small glimmer of hope is provided by efforts for regeneration such as the author's at Thiaki. I would have liked more about this project - perhaps this could be a follow up book. My principle criticism is while the author's acknowledged the role of Kuku Yalanji and shared some stories, a deeper partnership was needed including use of language and more of their perspectives of the land and ancestors. I was also a little surprised that with the Thiaki project (one in partnership with a leading university) there has been no consultation with Kuku Yalanji or efforts to include them as partners. Until indigenous people are seen as a critical resource for deep knowledge, regeneration will only partially succeed.

Nonetheless this is a book that is a must read by anyone who wants to understand the preciousness of rainforests anywhere in the world. Educative, beautiful, confronting. As a New Zealander (80% temperate rainforest 200 years ago and now 33%) it resonated deeply. We need a book like this about our land.