International Review of Environmental History • Volume 6, Issue 1, 2020

TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction James Beattie 1 American vines, European potatoes: An evolutionary history of European migrations in southern Brazil Claudio de Majo and Eduardo Relly 5 ‘The madding Wheeles of brazen Chariots rag’d; dire was the noise’: Motoring and the environment in New Zealand before the Second World War Alexander Trapeznik and Austin Gee 31 Biofuels’ unbalanced equations: Misleading statistics, networked knowledge and measured parameters. Part 3: Modelled marginal and spare land versus observed ecosystems Kate B. Showers 51 British huntswomen in colonial India: Imperialism and gender hierarchies, 1890–1921 Vijaya Ramadas Mandala 71 Temporalising nature: Chronologies of colonial species transfer and ecological change across the Indian Ocean in the age of empire Ulrike Kirchberger 101 INTRODUCTION JAMES BEATTIE The Centre for Science in Society, Victoria University of Wellington; Research Associate, Centre for Environmental History, The Australian National University; Senior Research Associate, Faculty of Humanities, University of Johannesburg Welcome to the first issue of 2020. In ‘American vines, European potatoes: An evolutionary history of European migrations in southern Brazil’, Claudio de Majo and Eduardo Relly examine the differing environmental and social experiences of two migrant groups to the state of Rio Grande do Sul. Germans and Italians, the authors show, each centred their activities on growing potatoes and a particular variety of grape. De Majo and Relly’s lively work as a whole demonstrates the fascinating overlay of migrant expectations, environmental reality and economic opportunities. As well, it charts the complex pathways of species introduction and reintroduction. In contrast to the broad sweep of de Majo and Relly’s article, Alexander Trapeznik and Austin Gee explore the impact of the motor car’s introduction into early twentieth-century New Zealand. In ‘“The madding Wheeles of brazen Chariots rag’d; dire was the noise”: Motoring and the environment in New Zealand before the Second World War’, they unearth concerns about dust, noise and visual pollution amongst the public. Their work provides a valuable southern hemispheric perspective on an area of scholarship dominated by research from North America and Europe. Kate B. Showers presents her third and final article on biofuels. In‘Biofuels’ unbalanced equations: Misleading statistics, networked knowledge and measured parameters. Part 3: Modelled marginal and spare land versus observed ecosystems’, Showers shows the consequences of model-driven policies to shape African land use. Her work is a cautionary tale of the need to interrogate closely systems of modelling and production as we seek to sever our links to fossil fuel production. Showers’ work does not advocate a rejection of biofuels, but rather a more careful awareness of their production and environmental and social impacts. As she concludes: ‘Biofuels can provide an alternative to fossil fuels, but applying an industrial approach to their production simply continues the destructive logic responsible for global degradation.’ 1 International Review of Environmental History • Volume 6, Issue 1, 2020 In ‘British huntswomen in colonial India: Imperialism and gender hierarchies, 1890–1921’, Vijaya Ramadas Mandala examines an early manifestation of another aspect of global degradation. Mandala’s work considers the manner in which ‘British huntswomen successfully contested the limitations of female participation (imposed by the male-dominant Victorian society) by partaking in big game pursuits in colonial India’. Through a detailed study of figures such as Nora Beatrice Blyth, Mrs W. W. Baillie and Isabel Savory, Mandala illustrates at once the manner in which such women upheld imperial ideals, utilised indigenous knowledge and engaged with local nature, all the while using the opportunity India presented to extend their own role in hunting. In the final article, ‘Temporalising nature: Chronologies of colonial species transfer and ecological change across the Indian Ocean in the age of empire’, Ulrike Kirchberger explores the collision of different timescales on environmental exchange. Her work considers such factors as the lifespan of different species and their ecological requirements and sets these against the short-term demands of empires, the long-term thinking of conservationists and the impacts of differing transportation modes and species behaviours. She also examines the manner in which different groups of conservationists enlisted the deep time of particular species and groups, as well as projections of future resource demands, in their consideration of which species to introduce, how and where. Call for papers I particularly encourage submissions on topics related to history and energy, the atmosphere and water, especially in relation to Africa, South America and Asia. Please also contact me if you are interested in guest editing a special issue. Acknowledgements I am indebted to the support of so many in making this publication possible. International Review of Environmental History is published with the support of funding provided by the Centre for Science in Society, Victoria University of Wellington. The journal is also supported through the Centre for Environmental History and The Australian National University. Its former Director, Professor Emeritus Tom Griffiths, has enthusiastically backed this venture from the outset. In 2013, Professor Bruce Clarkson, formerly Director of the Environmental Research Institute, University of Waikato, granted me the time to devote to planning and preparing the journal by giving me teaching buy-out. I am especially 2 Introduction grateful to the journal’s Associate Editors and supportive and active Editorial Board for permitting me to test ideas and share material with them. Finally, I acknowledge the assiduous copyediting of Dr Austin Gee. James Beattie, Editor, Dunedin, April 2020 3 AMERICAN VINES, EUROPEAN POTATOES: AN EVOLUTIONARY HISTORY OF EUROPEAN MIGRATIONS IN SOUTHERN BRAZIL CLAUDIO DE MAJO Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society Ludwigs-Maximilian University, Munich EDUARDO RELLY Universidade Vale do Rio dos Sinos UNISINOS São Leopoldo, Brazil Abstract In this article we examine the migratory history of German and Italian communities in the southernmost Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. In particular, we explore the divergent trajectories of these two communities in terms of agricultural practices, knowledge, environmental adaptation/transfers and agricultural policies. Adopting the critical tools of evolutionary history, we explore these experiences from a perspective that traditional historical analyses have often neglected. While both Germans and Italians were influenced by a cultural heritage from their homelands, non-European plant species such as the Isabella grape and white potatoes played an essential role in the successful migratory effort of these communities, actively interacting with their knowledge and values. In this sense, we argue for the potentially enriching critical perspective posed by an approach to the environmental history of migrations informed by the critical tools of evolutionary history, complementing the anthropocentric narratives produced by this academic field thus far. Keywords: environmental history of migrations, evolutionary history, Latin American history, wine, grape vines, potato crops The nineteenth century was an important period for the consolidation of the Brazilian state, just as much as for most countries that emerged from the dissolution of Iberian colonialism. Aside from British Guiana, Brazil was the only monarchy in South America, and it comprised a vast territory traversed by several ecological zones placed mostly within tropical latitudes. Along the borders of the empire, neighbouring countries flexed their muscles, and frontiers in Latin America were anything but fixed. Internally, separatism was an option for many; fuelled by 5 International Review of Environmental History • Volume 6, Issue 1, 2020 the former and fragmented structures of the colonial age, and under the political context of Pedro I’s abdication in favour of his young heir Pedro II, regional revolts broke out between 1835 and 1845 in almost every region of the vast tropical empire. In the southernmost province of the country, Rio Grande do Sul, the Revolução Farroupilha found support in the post-independence geopolitics of the southern cone. The Argentine Confederation exerted influence over the ambitious provincial elites, whose prosperity depended on the success of the cattle ranching economy and military prestige.1 Internal and external pressures demanded vigorous action from the court in Rio de Janeiro and, notwithstanding dynastic politics, political struggles among conservatives, moderate and radical liberals, and the respective topic of decentralisation/centralisation, migration emerged as a possible solution to bring stability to the monarchy.2 That was exactly the frame for Pedro II’s reign (1841–89). Most of the events related in this paper took place in this period. On the other hand, migration policies in nineteenth-century Brazil cannot be comprehended without a mention of the slavery question. That was not a simple national issue; British pressure over the abolition of slavery—often reputed to be the very base of Brazilian political unity—piled up additional unease among the political class and the elite.3 In most parts of the country, European immigrants were destined to sustain

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