RSOS Government Process
RSOS were set up as a part of the 1987 State Conservation Strategy which sought to locate rainforest areas across the State and determine their significance with the aim of recommending appropriate management and protection strategies. The State Conservation Strategy(1987) states that: "The Government will complete surveys of all sites or areas of ecological or scientific significance in the State and will take protective measures where appropriate. As a general rule, those sites significant at the State level or above will be preserved for nature conservation purposes and sites of regional or local significance will be protected wherever possible."
In 1988 the Land Conservation Council report on the East Gippsland
Area Review states that "The Council will
be conducting an investigation of rainforests in Victoria with a view
to making recommendations on the range of uses for them and the way in
which they should be protected through reservation ".
As a result of these government initiatives, the State Government Flora and Fauna Unit conducted a state wide survey of rainforest, partly funded by the Commonwealth Government through the National Rainforest Conservation Program.
In 1990, ten Otway RSOS were nominated by the Flora and Fauna Unit and rated as national, state or regional significance.
In 1999 an independent peer review of RSOS across Victoria found that only one area in the Otways needed an upgrade from Regional to State significance.
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