Forests & Woodlands

Victorian forests provide a wide range of values - from biodiversity and carbon storage to cultural connections, water security, recreation, and resources such as firewood. Yet these forests are increasingly under pressure. Climate change is compounding long-standing issues - introducing more intense and frequent bushfires, greater drought stress, and more severe storms and rainfall events. 

These trends are layered over legacies of past land use, including changed fire regimes, extensive timber harvesting and land clearing, and the continuing impacts of introduced pest plants and animals. Together, these drivers are shifting species composition, increasing fire risk, and eroding the ecological resilience of the forests. 

The Forests and Woodlands of the Otways are remarkably diverse given the relatively small land area of the region. These cool temperate rainforests, wet & damp sclerophyll forests, foothills forests and heathy woodlands all occur in a patchwork across the Otways landscape, interspersed with forestry plantations, farmland and townships. Native timber harvesting on public land cease in the Otways in 2004 with the creation of the Great Otway National Park. 

From our beginnings on Cape Otway, the Conservation Ecology Centre has undertaken research and conservation across all forest types in the Otways.