SAVE THE OTWAYS is a public campaign that has been going for over 50 years. We want to save this beautiful cool temperate rainforest lying on the Great Ocean Road on the southernmost beaches of Australia.
Have you seen our glow worms at night? It just takes ten minutes to get used to the dark and there they are, as numerous as the stars in the sky.
The Beech tree is our climax tree, hidden deep amongst gullies of gum trees and unique tree ferns. Its proper name is Nothofagus Cunninghamii, its leaves like maidenhair. The log industry is its enemy because it is so sensitive to the ravages of fire, trucks and creepy fungus.
Then we have white goshawks, possums and flying sugar gliders. The spotted quoll. Maybe some things are still to be discovered. Far better to fall in love with the Otways than to stand by while this ancient rainforest dies.
Otway forests lie on steep, delicate soil. They need real protection from plantations, over-development and tree farming damage. We have such an opportunity to grow a future economy based on tourism and careful management. Surely fresh water and this biodiversity is worth the fight. My two days in prison were not enough!
No more fires, log trucks and poisons, pollution and erosion. Saving the Otways is a political decision and it depends on you.