Lake Elizabeth ignored in
West Regional Forest Agreement

A report titled National Estate Identification and Assessment in the West Region of Victoria Jan 2000, West RFA deliberatly excluded the Otways in assessment of sites of Geological and Geomorphological significance. Hence the significnace of the Lake Elizabeth area was ignored despite acknowledging the existence of Rosengren's report.

3.5.1 Geological and geomorphological values (page 64)
Data sources
No assessment of geodiversity for national estate values has been undertaken across the whole of the West RFA Region. Instead, this assessment restricts itself to drawing on the outcomes of the Environment Conservation Council (ECC) Box-Ironbark Forests and Woodlands Investigation (ECC 1997). The Australian Heritage Commission (AHC) partially funded the chapter on geology and geomorphology in the ECC report. The south-west of the ECC investigation area overlaps with about one third of the West RFA Region, mainly in the north-east.

It is possible that new localities will be identified over time as further research takes place. It is also recognised that additional information on sites of geological and geomorphological significance (e.g. Rosengren 1984) exists for some parts of the Region. However, this information has not yet been collated and considered in the regional context of this assessment.

The West RFA allows logging to go ahead in the Lake Elizabeth area of National Estate.

Within the West RFA (Attachment 3; table 1) lists Geoheritage values. Under the heading Existing and/or additional protection mechanisms operating within and outside the CAR reserve system, it states:

Major geological and geomorphological features are considered robust to harvesting and roading. Identified localised sites of significance may be protected under the Crown Land (Reserves) Act 1978.

To make the assumption that logging can go ahead in the catchment, the West RFA has:

• Deliberately ignored the Otways during the assessments of Geological and geomorphological significance in the Otways. See above for details.
  
  
• Made a virtue of the Forest Management Plan to provide the prescriptions required to protect national estate values (See Attachment 3 of the West RFA below). However there are no prescriptions in the Otway Forest Management Plan to protect Lake Elizabeth National Estate Values. See OFMP fails to protect Lake Elizabeth.

ATTACHMENT 3
LISTING, PROTECTION AND MANAGEMENT OF NATIONAL ESTATE VALUES IN THE WEST VICTORIA REGION
Protection and management of National Estate values

3. Both Parties agree that many of the national estate values are well reserved in the CAR Reserve System and that existing and future Forest Management Plans and other mechanisms as described in Table 1 provide for the conservation of many other national estate values within the region.

4. Both Parties agree that all national estate values in West Victoria will be conserved through the application of the principles for managing national estate values as detailed in the appropriate Forest Management Plans.

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