2026 Otways Ecological Research Forum
Please join us this August. It’s a whole community event.
Date: Tuesday 25 August 2026
Time: 8:30am - 4:30pm
Location: COPACC - Colac Otway Performing Arts & Cultural Centre
Registrations now open.
Latest news
The Otways Marine Ecosystem Resilience (OMER) Initiative continues to grow as surveys expand to new locations along the Great Ocean Road. OMER is a collaborative program led by the Conservation Ecology Centre (CEC) in partnership with Otway Ocean Care (OOC) and the Eastern Maar Aboriginal Corporation (EMAC).
Another successful round of OMER surveys was completed in October and November, with CEC staff and an enthusiastic team of volunteers surveying Marengo, Blanket Bay, Skenes Creek, Parker Inlet, and Crayfish Bay.
These seasonal surveys form the backbone of the Otways Marine Ecosystem Resilience (OMER) initiative, which is building up-to-date ecological baselines for intertidal and subtidal ecosystems along the Otway coast.
Forests are managed for a wide range of important reasons – to protect and enhance biodiversity, reduce bushfire risk, create opportunities for tourism and recreation and make use of forest products like firewood to name a few.
Since 2018, the Conservation Ecology Centre (CEC) has been using ecological methods combined with practical land management techniques to actively manage feral pig populations in the Otways.