Otways Ecological Research Forum

Please join us this August for a focus on the impact and management of bushfires.

Date: Tuesday 25 August 2026

Time: 8:30am - 4:30pm

Location: COPACC - Colac Otway Performing Arts & Cultural Centre

We're currently finalising the sessions, but all Otways ecosystems will be covered: forests, heaths, waterways, coasts and marine.

And with Prof. Trent Penman delivering the Plenary presentation and an afternoon panel discussion focussed on bushfire in the Otways, this year's forum is an event you definitely shouldn't miss.

If you research fauna, flora or whole ecosystems of the Otways,
Or you're a Traditional Owner with biocultural understandings of Country,
Or your government agency manages SW Vic landscapes,
Or you're a private landholder interested in land stewardship,
Or community member dedicated to assisting or championing local environmental causes,

THIS EVENT IS FOR YOU!

Holding the event at COPACC means we have over 300 seats available, so feel welcome to spread the word to anyone you think might be interested. It's a whole community event.

Subscribe to our Seasonal Updates email and follow us on social media to be notified when new speakers, topics and the agenda is released.

All science needs to be collaborative.

But in ecology, we take our lead from the ecosystems we study, where all components of the natural environment are interlinked and contribute to each other's survival.

Ecological research and conservation science are key to mitigating the biodiversity crisis that Australia is currently facing, and we'll only do it by taking the whole community with us.

Our landscapes need Traditional Owners and biocultural knowledge-holders, scientists and research communicators, public land managers and agencies, private land stewards, and community biophiles to be working together like never before.

To do this, we need timely, accessible, and generous sharing of information. In the Otways, we’ve devised the perfect place to bring all the eco-activity together to be digested, discussed and celebrated.

It’s the Otways Ecological Research Forum and it's a whole community event.

If you research fauna, flora or whole ecosystems of the Otways, if you're a Traditional Owner with biocultural understandings of Western Vic landscapes, if your government agency manages Otways landscapes, if you're a private landholder interested in land stewardship or community member dedicated to assisting or championing local environmental causes, this event is for you.

This event is organised by the Conservation Ecology Centre. As a non-profit organisation, we welcome sponsorship or support to keep the Forum accessible to all. Please contact Andrea de Kauwe: andrea@conservationecologycentre.org, or our research team if you have work that you'd like to present.