Report puts economic value on Great Ocean Road Coast and Parks

A RECENT Environmental-Economic Account (EEA) highlights the economic value of the Great Ocean Road Coast and Parks.

Released earlier this week by the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA), the EEA is the first for the area and reviews the ecosystem assets and the economic value they contribute to Victoria.

A DEECA spokesperson said the EEA attributed 3.9 million tourism visitors each year, valued at $520 million annually to the existence of the ecosystems, and highlights its significance for the Victorian economy.

“The coast and parks along the Great Ocean Road are so important to Victoria that is critical that we do as much as we can to protect them for future generations to enjoy,” the spokesperson said.

“Land management, planning and investment decisions for the Great Ocean Road Coast and Parks will be informed by the latest research including this EEA to ensure a consistent and holistic approach.”

It is estimated the Great Ocean Road Coast and Park ecosystems are worth more than $100 million a year to the economy and more than $700 million a year to the community for the group of ecosystem services assessed.

The area is also under threat from high and increasing levels of tourists and climate change.

The EEA will be used to help land managers the Great Ocean Road Coast and Parks Authority (GORCAPA) inform its strategy, planning and investment decisions.

Great Ocean Road Communities Network convenor Peter Christoff said the report was very important and gave an indicative sense of the significant value in dollar terms.

“It particularly emphasises the importance of the region for community assets, for education, for carbon sequestration and of course, for tourism as well.

“Given the dollar value that this report highlights, it also indicates the extent to which the state government should be putting more money into the region to preserve and enhance the biological and also the social values the report has assessed.

Mr Christoff highlighted the high-level reporting in the EEA, but said there needed to be more details for each region to be able to unpick the data and make sense of it.

“The report also fails to consider, and this is understandable but nevertheless a failing, emergent threats and their potential costs – in particular, the costs of climate change in terms of coastal impacts, on housing and transport infrastructure, increased extreme fire events and their impacts on ecosystems and settlements and so on.”

For more information and to read the full report, head to environment.vic.gov.au/accounting-for the-environment

GORCN is presently running a series of free webinars titled “Tourism Reimagined and the Great Ocean Road.”

The next webinar is From Tourism Policy to Practice, Government Agencies Speak: how do public agencies align with each other and with communities on the Great Ocean Road, as they develop and implement their tourism policies and action plans?, which will be held on Wednesday, March 12 from 4pm to 4.30pm.

It will feature Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA) regional director for Barwon South West Ruth Caldwell, GORCAPA chief executive officer Jodie Sizer and representatives from the Surf Coast Shire, Colac Otway Shire and Corangamite Shire.

For more information, head to eventbrite.com.au/e/tourism-reimagined-and-the-great-ocean-road-tickets-1128350419479