Coastal environments are naturally dynamic places, but the Australian love affair with the beach (where 86% of us now live) has dramatically accelerated the pace of biophysical change there.

That is according to CQU's Dr Steve Mullins, who will deliver a public seminar called 'Shifting Sands: Remembering Seascapes, and Learning to Live in Coast Communities", at CQU Rockhampton on Wednesday, October 29. The seminar will be introduced by Livingstone Shire Mayor Cr Bill Ludwig.

Dr Mullins said development of residential infrastructure, bridges, harbour facilities and tourist spaces had altered the character of coastal environments.

"This paper weighs up the various uses of history in the process of coastal environmental management, drawing largely on the experience of the Coastal CRC's (Cooperative Research Centre) Historical Coastlines project," he said.

"It focuses on the Capricorn Coast and is guided by two fundamental principles - that effective environmental management is an intergenerational concern, and that there is a powerful congruence between sentimental attachment to place and a commitment to the protection and maintenance of local ecosystems." .

Dr Mullins and Dr Barbara Webster (also of CQU) are among key staff for the Historical Coastlines project which has been recognised as a category winner in the 2003 Coastal CRC awards for excellence.

Dr Webster launched her book called 'Marooned: Rockhampton's Great Flood of 1918' in March this year.

More recently, the project team has launched a new online database of historial coastal images and community perspectives of the Capricorn Coast, including: .

Fitzroy Timelines: an animated historical timeline providing a text based chronological tour of the major moments on the history of the Fitzroy coastal region.

Sculpting the Capricorn Coast: a photographic tour of early roads, bridges and beach development around Yeppoon and Keppel Bay.

Image and Manuscript Archive: more than 600 historical images and a comprehensive list of references for the region showing the past and development.

The database of historical photographs is available on the Coastal CRC website: www.coastal.crc.org.au/envhist/ .

Caption: An early photo image of Yeppoon, from the new website.

Caption: Dr Steve Mullins' Historical Coastlines team received a Coastal CRC category award recently. Dr Mullins (pictured) was on hand to collect the award.