Endangered Orchids on Cape Otway’s Dunes

The Otways Marine Ecosystem Resilience (OMER) Initiative continues to gather momentum, with several exciting funding successes helping expand the program from long-term ecological monitoring into community-led stewardship and conservation action.

In the heathlands of the Otways, the high-stakes mating strategy of the threatened Swamp Antechinus (Antechinus minimus maritimus) is becoming an important focus for land managers as they look to undertake more "cool" planned burns in the winter.

Master’s Student Jesse Ellis is working to fill some of the knowledge gaps between this unique biology and winter fire management, to understand how Swamp Antechinus can survive, and thrive, in a landscape managed by fire.

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).

A month since the fires in the Otways started… and the Carlisle River fire has now been listed as under control. As we turn our attention to research and our response for wildlife and habitat, we’ve been reflecting on what unfolded over the past month.

So how are we doing down here at the Conservation Ecology Centre?

The words of ecologist Tamika Farley-Lehmer sum up how we’ve been feeling beautifully…

The Resilient Forests project was established in 2023 to trial new approaches to climate adaptation planning, with the foothill forests of the Otways selected as a pilot landscape.

In 2025, we set out to develop a detailed Adaptation Pathway that could guide long-term planning for the Otways foothill forests - incorporating Traditional Owner obligations, new ecological research, expert opinion, and insights from stakeholder engagement into a structured set of options for future management.

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.

Do you know what feral pig damage looks like—or how it affects pastures, waterways, and native vegetation?

You’re invited to attend a free 2-hour workshop at Echidna House, Kawarren on Thursday 20 November to learn how we can work together to manage feral pigs in the Northern Otways (from Carlisle River to Forrest; Barongarook to Beech Forest).

This is the second in a series of workshops to be held across the Otways in the next 24 months.