News & Information

VEAC releases final recommendations for the Otway

7 December 2004

Message from Otway Ranges Environment Network

The final Victorian Environmental Assessment Council (VEAC) recommendations for a new expanded Otways National Park were publicly released on Monday 29th November 2004. The final result is excellent! The New Otways National Park will be 102,470 ha. Much cutting and pasting occurred between the draft proposals released in May and the final result. Overall the Otway National Park is 4000 ha bigger than the draft proposal.

The new expanded Otway Ranges National Park will combine the existing Otway National Park and also include, the Angahook-Lorne, Carlisle and Melba Gully State Parks and areas of former high conservation state forest.

To download the final recommendations see http://www.veac.vic.gov.au/

What is the difference between the draft and final recommendations?

West Barwon Catchment

The entire West Barwon catchment, domestic water supply for Geelong has now been included within the National Park (additional 3,906 ha). This is largely a recognition of both the nature conservation values of the West Barwon and the fact the areas is critically strategic part of the Geelong domestic water supply system.

Arkins Creek/Link Track Area

The entire Arkins creek catchment combined with the Link track area has now been added to the National Park.(additional 1,325 ha). Arkins creek catchment is essentially undisturbed except for water extraction in the headwaters for Warrnambool. Forest at Link Track provides a critical wildlife corridor between the existing Carlisle State Park(to be included as National Park) and the rest of the Otway public forested land to become National Park.

Western Otways

Significant parcels of forested public land in the far western Otways at Yuulong and Bryant creek will also be included within the new National Park.

Forest Park

The Forest Park area gained in some places and was reduced in others to accommodated the additional areas listed above. Overall the Forest park area was reduced by about 8500 ha between the draft and final recommendations to become 39,265 ha in size. Over 2,200 ha of area recommended as National Park in the draft as been re-allocated to Forest Park in the final recommendations. The largest of these areas was 1,922 ha in the northern section of the Barongarook forest.

Nature conservation reserves

The total areas of Nature conservation reserves is about 5000 ha. This area includes the significant Jancourt Nature Conservation Reserve and the Coradjil Nature Conservation Reserve These Nature Conservation reserves are remnant vegetation that was left over from the Heytesbury Land Settlement scheme where 43,500 ha of forest was cleared for dairy farms between 1957 and 1970.

Where to from here?

These are recommendations only. The State government has indicated they will make a final decision on these recommendations within a few months. The State government has a statutory obligation to formally respond within six months, (by about May 2005).

It is expected the State Government will accept these recommendations in line with their 2002 re-election policy to create a new expanded Otway National Park. OREN will continue to lobby government to follow through with all these recommendations and legislate a new National Park well before the next state election, due to be held in November 2006.

The greatest threat to these recommendations continues to be political parties that continue to support woodchipping and clearfell logging in the Otway. The Liberal Party if elected in Victoria in 2006 are not committed to adopt these final recommendations as they still formally support clearfell logging in the Otways for woodchips under the West Regional Forest Agreement

Some clearfell logging in the forest park areas is scheduled to continue in the Otways until 2008 (after the next state election in 2006).

For more information see http://www.oren.org.au

Source: Otway Ranges Environment Network media release