Showcasing Otways research projects

THE latest edition of an annual forum will again bring together experts, researchers and the community from across the Otways to share the latest ecological research taking place across the national park, state forests and on private land.

The 2023 Otways Ecological Research Forum will be held towards the end of this month in Colac.

The event is not limited to researchers, and landowners, land managers, and anyone interested in conservation are being invited to come along and hear about the research projects being carried out locally.

Subjects being spoken about this year include:

• Conserving threatened small mammals in the otway ranges: significant refuges and species management.
• Protecting plant and animal diversity in the Otway Ranges, Bells Beach (Ironbark Basin) and Great Ocean Road hinterland from phytophthora cinnamomi dieback – the Wild Otways initiative
• The big pig-ture – research informing effective feral pig management across the Otways
• Life among the leaves – invertebrate conservation in the southern Otways
• The Carlisle Heath research program: a potted history
• Describing the response of predators and prey to fire in a biodiverse heathland
• Investigating the feasibility of translocation of the swamp antechinus in the Otway ranges
• Addressing woody-shrub encroachment through strategic fire management
• Genetic diversity of southern brown bandicoots in the Otways and across Victoria, and
• Dreeite Ngootyoon Meerreeng (healthy country) overview.

The 2023 Otways Ecological Research Forum will be held at COPACC (Colac Otway Performing Arts & Cultural Centre) 95-97 Gellibrand Street, Colac on August 30 from 9am-3pm. Entry is free.

For more information or to book, head to conservationecologycentre.org/discover/conservation-science/otways-ecological-research-forum