Assessment of National Estate Values within the Otway State Forest during the West Regional Forest Agreement.

All the claimed goals required by the Regional Forest Agreement (RFA) have never come to fruition. See Link

What the West RFA process produced was:

• Poor research:
• Poor representation:
• Poor consultation:
• Poor management:

Poor Research

A report generated as a part of the West RFA process titled National Estate Identification and Assessment in the West Region of Victoria Jan 2000, provides results of various assessments of National estate values which are summarised below.

An analysis of the results show the Otways was never been properly assessed for National Estate Values. The RFA process used a generic assessment process to evaluate forest. The methodology used to assess remote forest areas such as East Gippsland and the North East forest was also used to assess forest found along the Great Ocean Road.

Hence issues such as Natural Landscape Values and Aesthetic Values that are very important to the tourism industry of the Great Ocean Road were only superficially investigated if at all. Some examples include:

Aesthetic Value Assessment
Natural Landscapes Assessment
Geological and Geomorphological Assessment

Poor representation:

Most of the upper reaches of forest along the Great Ocean Road on the South Eastern face of the Otways are not protected from logging. This includes the upper reaches of catchment such as Cumberland River, Wye Rive, Kennett river, Carisbrook creek and Smythe creek. However the lower reaches of these same catchments are within the Anaghook-Lorne State Park and have National Estate listing under nomination 18054 Angahook - Lorne State Park and adjacent areas.

Nomination 18054 Angahook - Lorne State Park and adjacent areas
Location : About 22,500ha, 2km west of Lorne, comprising the following areas:
1. Angahook-Lorne State Park;
2. Carrisbrook Falls Reserve;
3. Cumberland River Reserve;
4. All public land south of the Great Ocean Road between Carrisbrook Falls Reserve and the State Park boundary near the Grey River mouth;
5. The Wye River and adjacent River Reserve between the State Park boundary and its mouth; and
6. The Kennett River and adjacent unreserved Crown Land and Public Purpose Reserve between the State Park boundary and its mouth.

It is hard not to argue that if the lower reaches of these catchments are registered as having National Estate values, then the upper regions of these same catchments also contain outstanding national estate values and are worthy of inclusion within the Angahook-Lorne State Park.

Poor Consultation

The report titled The National Estate Identification and Assessment in the West Region of Victoria was only made widely available to the public on Monday 28th February 2000, three days after public submission to the RFA independent panel process closed on Friday 25th February.

The RFA was then signed off on the 31st March 2000. The public got no opportunity to analyses and comment of the National Estate report before the RFA process was finalised.

Poor Management

Lake Elizabeth is the only area within the Otway State Forest that has National Estate Listing and is available for clearfell logging despite scientific opinion.

Case Study: The Lake Elizabeth Area of National Estate.

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