James Peter Stanton (born 23 April 1940) is an Australian
landscape ecologist,
fire ecologist,
botanist
Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...
and
biogeographer
Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species and ecosystems in geographic space and through geological time. Organisms and biological communities often vary in a regular fashion along geographic gradients of latitude, elevation, ...
who individually conducted systematic environmental resource surveys throughout
Queensland
Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...
whilst working for the National Parks department of Forestry (Qld.) from 1967 to 1974. He carried out his assessments in a range of dissimilar landscapes leading to the identification and protection of many critically threatened ecosystems across the state during a period of rapid and widespread land development under the
Joh Bjelke-Petersen
Sir Johannes Bjelke-Petersen (13 January 191123 April 2005) was an Australian politician and farmer who served as premier of Queensland between 1968 and 1987, for almost 20 years, as state leader of the National Party (earlier known as the C ...
government. For this work he became the first Australian to receive the
IUCN
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...
Fred M. Packard Award in 1982.
He was involved in two incidents where implemented or proposed disciplinary actions became prominent controversies. The first began with him standing in the path of bulldozers, the other with ordering that a vehicle and items seized from a smuggler be turned over to the police rather than being handled by higher-ups in his organization.
Since 2003, Stanton has worked with the
Australian Wildlife Conservancy
The Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC) is an independent Australian nonprofit organisation, working to conserve threatened wildlife and ecosystems in Australia. AWC is the largest private owner and manager of land for conservation in Austral ...
as a fire and vegetation ecologist.
Early life
Peter Stanton was born on 23 April 1940 at
Shorncliffe, on the northern outskirts of Brisbane. He was educated at
Banyo State High School, where he excelled at languages and athletics, and later at the
University of Queensland
The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...
and the
Australian Forestry School
The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university and member of the Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition ...
(Canberra), emerging with a
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years.
The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...
in Agriculture and a Diploma in Forestry in 1962.
His formative years in the field of ecology were as a young child, on the
mudflats
Mudflats or mud flats, also known as tidal flats or, in Ireland, slob or slobs, are coastal wetlands that form in intertidal areas where sediments have been deposited by tides or rivers. A global analysis published in 2019 suggested that tidal ...
of Shorncliffe and in the bushland of
Bribie Island
Bribie Island is the smallest and most northerly of three major sand islands forming the coastline sheltering the northern part of Moreton Bay, Queensland, Australia. The others are Moreton Island and North Stradbroke Island. Bribie Island is ...
along with his younger brother,
John
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Second E ...
, an actor. Stanton would later describe the sand island landscapes of his childhood around Moreton Bay as "unspoiled paradises of forest, swamp, flowering heath, giant sandhills, and seemingly endless surf and still water beaches" citing the subsequent broad-scale development of many such environments on the South-Eastern coastal fringe of Queensland in the 1960s as an early motivating influence upon his conservation work.
Stanton worked for five years as a
forester
A forester is a person who practises forest management and forestry, the science, art, and profession of managing forests. Foresters engage in a broad range of activities including ecological restoration and management of protected areas. Fores ...
until, in 1967, he was transferred to the National Parks branch of the Queensland Forestry Department. His transfer was a result of the interest he had shown in National Parks while working in Mackay, and his nomination of and the subsequent gazettal of
Cape Upstart (east of Bowen) as a National Park.
Career
In 1973, Stanton undertook a field review of the
conservation status
The conservation status of a group of organisms (for instance, a species) indicates whether the group still exists and how likely the group is to become extinct in the near future. Many factors are taken into account when assessing conservation ...
of the
Wet Tropics area of Queensland spanning two reports which were published by Queensland Forestry in 1974. The reports reinforced and extended the 1965 conservation assessments of Dr.
Leonard Webb and
Geoff Tracey
John Geoffrey Tracey (1930 – 30 July 2004) was an Australian ecologist and botanist whose pioneering research work in partnership with Dr. Leonard Webb within the Rainforest Ecology Unit of the CSIRO in the 1950s led to the publicati ...
of
CSIRO
The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government agency that is responsible for scientific research and its commercial and industrial applications.
CSIRO works with leading organisations arou ...
which had been confined to the lowland areas of the region on account of the extreme development pressures which were placed on the lowlands from the mid-1950s onwards.
Stanton's assessments confirmed that "the areas Webb and Tracey had identified were still some of the highest priorities for conservation" whilst also identifying and recommending the protection of a number of additional endangered habitats both within and beyond the lowland areas.
The early conservation work conducted in the Wet Tropics by Stanton, along with that of Webb and Tracey, was instrumental to the later protection of many rare and threatened landscapes within the region, including the lowland rainforests of the
Daintree and
Cape Tribulation
Cape Tribulation is a headland and coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas in northern Queensland, Australia. In the , Cape Tribulation had a population of 123 people.
Geography
The locality is north of Cairns. It is within the Daintree N ...
area.
In 1980 Stanton was invited to address the second World Wilderness Congress which was held in
Cairns
Cairns (; ) is a city in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. In the , Cairns had a population of 153,181 people.
The city was founded in 1876 and named after William Cairns, Sir W ...
,
Queensland
Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...
the same year. His oration ‘The Wilderness of Cape York Peninsula’ was delivered alongside addresses by
Bob Brown
Robert James Brown (born 27 December 1944) is an Australian former politician, medical doctor and environmentalist. He was a Australian Senate, senator and the parliamentary leader of the Australian Greens. Brown was elected to the Australian ...
,
Laurens van der Post
Sir Laurens Jan van der Post, (13 December 1906 – 15 December 1996) was a South African Afrikaner writer, farmer, soldier, educator, journalist, humanitarian, philosopher, explorer and conservationist. He was noted for his interest in Jungi ...
,
Jean Dorst
Jean Dorst (7 August 1924 – 8 August 2001) was a French ornithologist.
Dorst was born at Mulhouse and studied biology and paleontology at the Faculty of Biological Sciences of the University of Paris. In 1947 he joined the staff of the Muséum ...
,
Ian Player
Ian Cedric Audley Player DMS (15 March 1927 – 30 November 2014) was a South African international conservationist. Ian Player was one of the world's outstanding conservationists and environmental statesmen. He earned his stripes in the ...
, Madame Laurence de Bonneval,
Geoff Mosley
John Geoffrey "Geoff" Mosley (born 14 September 1931) was executive director of the Australian Conservation Foundation from 1973 to 1986 and has had a lifelong interest in preserving wilderness. He has since been regularly elected from Victoria t ...
and Ray Arnett amongst other delegates representing 25 countries.
The congress was to result in the commitment to protect areas of virgin rainforest in Queensland under park status by the premier of the state as well as the recommendation for the inclusion of the Great Barrier Reef on the
World Heritage
World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...
list by then Prime Minister
Malcolm Fraser
John Malcolm Fraser (; 21 May 1930 – 20 March 2015) was an Australian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Australia from 1975 to 1983. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia, and is the fourth List of ...
.
From 1977 to 1997, he worked as a senior scientist for the
Queensland National Parks and Wildlife Service
Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, ...
, relocating from Brisbane to Cairns in 1979 where he remained stationed throughout his career. During this period Stanton produced a body of field research which was to inform and support the listing process of the Wet Tropics of Queensland
World Heritage
World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...
area and its ongoing ecological management.
His conservation work in the Wet Tropics and Northern Queensland contributed to Stanton being awarded the
Public Service Medal of Australia in 1996 for "outstanding public service to natural system protection and conservation planning"
and the Australian
Centenary Medal
The Centenary Medal is an award which was created by the Australian Government in 2001. It was established to commemorate the centenary of the Federation of Australia and to recognise "people who made a contribution to Australian society or g ...
in 2001 for "a long and distinguished public service career contributing to conservation of the Wet Tropics".
From 1992 to 1994, Stanton, accompanied by botanist David Fell, led the first major study of the rainforest ecosystems of the
Cape York Peninsula
The Cape York Peninsula is a peninsula located in Far North Queensland, Australia. It is the largest wilderness in northern Australia.Mittermeier, R.E. et al. (2002). Wilderness: Earth's last wild places. Mexico City: Agrupación Sierra Madre, ...
bioregion resulting in the publication of the research report ‘The Rainforests of Cape York Peninsula' in 1995. Taking the form of a systematic ecological survey and mapping project, the study examined the full range of rainforest areas in the region with initial designation on aerial photographs followed by ground-truthing and stratification into 72 separate forest types. 140 sample plots were established encompassing each forest type and within each plot the full range of botanical species was identified and recorded along with the links between each ecosystem and the soils of the sites they occupy.
The study also included a review of the conservation status of the various rainforest types, identifying the need for additional reserves, critical management issues and recommended management actions. ‘The Rainforests of Cape York Peninsula' was later republished by The Cooperative Research Centre for Tropical Rainforest Ecology and Management at
James Cook University
James Cook University (JCU) is a public university in North Queensland, Australia. The second oldest university in Queensland, JCU is a teaching and research institution. The university's main campuses are located in the tropical cities of Cair ...
in 2004.
In 2001, Stanton was the recipient of the Australian
Wet Tropics Management Authority's ‘Cassowary Award’ for his scientific work and his vegetation mapping of the region which later culminated in the publication of 38 vegetation community maps at 1:50,000 scale entitled "The Vegetation of the Wet Tropics of Queensland bioregion" (J.P. & D.J. Stanton, 2005).
The vegetation communities, initially designated within 90,000 polygons across 4,000 aerial photographs were then
ground-truthed leading to the identification and description of 250 distinct ecosystem types in the region. The project built upon previous 1:100,000 vegetation mapping (Tracey and Webb 1975) providing finer and more accurate vegetation mapping accompanied by a series of reports describing the main vegetation types of each mapsheet area, their understory types, disturbance histories and their links to the geology of the sites they occupy. In 2023, in conjunction with an Honorary Doctorate in Science which was awarded to Stanton by the
James Cook University
James Cook University (JCU) is a public university in North Queensland, Australia. The second oldest university in Queensland, JCU is a teaching and research institution. The university's main campuses are located in the tropical cities of Cair ...
, the Vegetation of the Wet Tropics of Queensland bioregion was cited as being the most detailed such study in the world.
For his conservation work in the 1960s and 70s he became the first Australian to receive the
IUCN
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...
Fred M. Packard Award in 1982.
Since 2003, Stanton has worked with the
Australian Wildlife Conservancy
The Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC) is an independent Australian nonprofit organisation, working to conserve threatened wildlife and ecosystems in Australia. AWC is the largest private owner and manager of land for conservation in Austral ...
as a fire and vegetation ecologist.
Political controversies
During his career within the Queensland National Parks and Wildlife Service Stanton was twice threatened with dismissal by the Queensland Government. In 1983, during the construction of the road through the Cape Tribulation National Park to Bloomfield he was suspended from the position of Regional Director for several months after having stood in the path of bulldozers in order to protect both the lives of protestors and what he considered to be the most significant tracts of rainforest. Due to public outcry as well as threats of broadscale strike among employees of the National Parks and Wildlife Service, Stanton was reinstated to the Regional Directorship at the recommendation of the Public Service Board in 1984 and remained in the position until he returned to full-time scientific field work in 1988.
Later, in 1994, Stanton was recommended for disciplinary action by the State Government after he ordered that a vehicle containing guns and chainsaws which were suspected of being used for the purpose of smuggling the seeds of the threatened
Foxtail Palm be sent to the Cooktown Police Station. Stanton had advised Department of Environment and Heritage officer Pat Shears, who had confiscated the vehicle inside the
Cape Melville National Park
Cape Melville National Park (Cape York Peninsula Aboriginal Land) is a national park in the Shire of Cook, Queensland, Australia. The national park was previously named Cape Melville National Park until it was renamed on 28 November 2013.
Geogr ...
, to leave the matter in the hands of the police rather than immediately inform the DEH head office in Cairns. Stanton did not trust DEH senior management and feared that Shears might become the victim of "political interference". The vehicle was soon discovered to be connected to key political figures within the then Labor Government. The events were to culminate in a political scandal that came to be variously known as the Foxtail Palm Affair or the
Cape Melville incident. The disciplinary action which had been recommended for Stanton was eventually abandoned in the face of significant public outcry.
Selected works
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References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stanton, Peter
1940 births
Living people
Australian ecologists
Recipients of the Public Service Medal (Australia)
University of Queensland alumni