Great Ocean Road GPS App

Gone are the days when we had to read outdated maps and sift through hundreds of brochures to find out valuable information on our favourite tourist destinations. A new App called the Great Ocean Road GPS Tour  has been designed for those who both love the Great Ocean Road and technology. As you travel along the [...]

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Endangered Tiger Quoll rediscovered near Lorne

Have you heard the news?  It seems that the endangered Tiger Quoll has made a reappearance in our region. ABC Radio’s World Today Program this week announced the first confirmed sighting of the critically endangered species in a decade, with  holidaymakers near Lorne catching a glimpse of an endangered marsupial. Matt Moreton and Joanne Wood heard [...]

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Coast care conversations and stories

On a sunny winter’s day at the end of August, around 50 people gathered for conversations at the Fairhaven Surf Life Saving Club. People from community groups and government agencies who are passionate about our coastal environment spent the day sharing stories and their ideas for the future. Here are some examples of what was harvested from the day to share and carry forward with those who attended the workshop and others who didn’t.

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Taking the initiative

The Eagle Rock Marine Sanctuary is regularly frequented by a group of local snorkelers who identified the need to establish a standalone friends group. With Eagle Rock right on the snorkelers’ doorsteps, the group recognised the importance of the sanctuary to the local and snorkelling/diving communities. Members also felt that the sanctuary would benefit from an organisation that provided opportunities for the general public to engage with it. Consequently, the Friends of Eagle Rock Marine Sanctuary group was created to work on projects specific to the sanctuary.

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Good connections hold the key

Traditional wisdom has it that good connections are vital to getting on in life. For us however, good connections are critically important to our beautiful coast. As coast managers, we share a strong connection with the coast and are passionate about its ongoing care, protection and conservation. Such passion also connects us with the many local coastal volunteer groups and individuals involved in caring for the coast, and with government agencies and other bodies who, like us, are responsible for managing the coast. Good connections are vital to building the foundation for an integrated approach to coastal management and provide the basis for sharing knowledge, skills and experiences about how to best care for the coast. Such connections also play a crucial role in helping to connect the ordinary person on the beach with the coast and hopefully contribute to raising their awareness of why they need to play their part in looking after it. Over the past few months, we have been working towards building our capacity to connect with people in the online environment. We have also been working to improve the way we connect via more tried and tested means. We know that the strongest connections come from sitting down and talking to people face-to-face. This is why we are looking forward to the upcoming Forum for Coastal Volunteers on Sunday 29 August 2010, which will provide an invaluable opportunity to strengthen connections that will benefit the entire Great Ocean Road coast from Torquay to Port Campbell. We can’t wait to be there and to see what comes out of it in terms of building the good connections so vital to our beautiful coast.

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Enter our brave new online world and join the conversation

Today marks the start of a brave new world for GORCC with the launch of our new website and associated social media tools, including this GORCC Talk Blog, to enable us to inform, educate, connect, interact and engage with people in the online environment. The new website’s development has been funded from the Australian Government’s Caring for our Country program. It provides an interactive and dynamic tool that allows people to learn about our organisation and its work, the issues confronting our coast and the simple things we can all do to help look after it. I encourage you to visit www.gorcc.com.au, to have a look around the site to see what’s there and to get the conversation going by telling us what you think.

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