Crowes Lookout
Crowes Lookout is located 170 kilometres south-west of Melbourne near the scenic town of Lavers Hill in the Otway Ranges. The scenic forest is home to a diverse array of biodiversity, including Southern Blue-gum, Messmate Stringybark and the tallest flowering tree species in the world, the Mountain Ash.
About Crowes Lookout
Crowes Lookout is located 170 kilometres south-west of Melbourne near the scenic town of Lavers Hill in the Otway Ranges.
The scenic forest is home to a diverse array of biodiversity, including the Southern Blue-gum and Messmate Stringybark. It is also home to the tallest flowering tree species in the world, the Mountain Ash. Notably, Mountain Ash forests maintain the densest reserves of carbon dioxide of any eco-type on Earth; with forests of this type commonly storing 30 times more Carbon dioxide than other vegetation types, their protection is all the more significant.
The dense undergrowth at Crowes Lookout provides habitat for many native mammal species including the Long-nosed Bandicoot which was discovered on one of the remote cameras in the project area.
Of particular global significance is the presence of the threatened Otway Black Snail, a shiny-black carnivorous snail that lives only in the Otway Ranges, Victoria, and recent records of Koala.
Wet forests and their associated gullies provide very significant drought refuges – areas in the landscape that provide permanent moist conditions for plants and animals to survive during drying conditions.
Vegetation communities
Crowes Lookout is dominated by tall eucalypt forests that tower over the ground. The shrubby understory consists of broad-leaved plants that provide a moist, shaded, fern-rich ground layer that is dominated by tree-ferns. Mountain Ash grows in the moist protected gullies on the property.
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Shrubby Wet Forest
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Wet Forest
Monitoring Highlight
Project Report: Crowes Lookout
Wilderlands is delighted to share our first Annual Project Report for our Crowes Lookout project, including highlights such as our remote cameras capturing a range of native mammals.
Flagship Species
The dense undergrowth at Crowes Lookout provides habitat for many native mammal species including the Long-nosed Bandicoot which was discovered on one of the remote cameras in the project area as well as the threatened Otway Black Snail, a shiny-black carnivorous snail that lives only in the Otway Ranges, Victoria.
It is also home to 39 bird species including the Crimson Rosella, White-browed Scrubwren, and importantly the threatened Gang-Gang Cockatoo.
Koala calls have also been captured on remote sound recorders at the project.
Otway Black-snail
Victaphanta compacta
The globally significant and endangered Otway Black Snail is found solely in the Otway Ranges in southern Victoria. It is a carnivorous snail that consumes other snails, worms and insect larvae for sustenance.
The Otway Black Snail is semi-nocturnal but is often seen on cool moist days. This creature has a maximum shell diameter of 2.8 cm and can live between 2 – 8 years. Wet forests and cool temperate rainforests are their ideal habitat. Their main threats include habitat loss, caused by land clearing, fire, drought and climate change.
Mountain Ash
Eucalyptus regnans
The Mountain Ash is the tallest flowering species of tree in the world. It is a majestic and towering tree species that holds great significance on our Crowes Lookout project. Wet Forests containing Mountain Ash are crucial for various tree-dwelling animals, including the vulnerable Powerful Owl, Australia’s largest owl which hunts in these forests, using large tree hollows created by lightning strikes or high winds. The hollows are also home to the vulnerable Masked Owl and Barking Owl.
Gang-gang Cockatoo
Callocephalon fimbriatum
Recognised as a vulnerable threatened species in Victoria, the Gang-gang Cockatoo is easily identifiable by several distinctive characteristics. Males have a striking appearance with a bright red head and crest, while the rest of their body is a slate-grey colour.
Females, on the other hand, lack the red colouring and instead have a grey head and crest, with a body patterned with fine yellow and green barring on the chest and belly. Both sexes have a stocky build, a short tail, and a broad, curved beak.
Their call is very distinctive, resembling a loud creaking door, echoing throughout the tall trees. which makes them easier to identify by sound as well as sight.
Species Highlight
Koalas find calling at Crowes
The first Koala on a Wilderlands project is discovered, this moment marks a significant milestone in our understanding of the intricate web of biodiversity making up the ecosystem of the Crowes Lookout forest.
Conservation Partner
The Crowes Lookout project is owned and co-managed by Cassinia Environmental.
The Wet Forests in Crowes Lookout are protected in perpetuity under section 72 of the Conservation, Forests and Lands Act 1987 (Vic).
While the need for management interventions within the property’s boundaries has been minimal, Cassinia has worked closely with neighbouring landowners to combat invasive weeds within the proximity of the property, focusing on Blackberry, Ragwort and Japanese Honeysuckle.
Wilderlands have selected Cassinia Environmental as our conservation partner across a number of projects given their deep expertise in managing land for conservation outcomes.
Over the past 20 years they have delivered over 100 landscape scale projects across four states for a diverse range of stakeholders, including State and Federal Governments, international corporations, NGOs, and Traditional Owners.
Monitoring
Wilderlands undertake various monitoring activities throughout the year. These activities include standardised bird surveys, rapid vegetation assessments, deployment of remote cameras and photopoint monitoring.
Floristic quadrats
Bird surveys
Remote cameras
Biological Diversity Units (BDU’s)
How do Wilderlands Create Biodiversity Credits?
At the Crowes Lookout site, one BDU equates to one square meter of land permanently protected and actively managed to maintain and enhance the integrity of its biological diversity.
Wilderlands geotags each unit and registers the now “voluntary” units on the independently managed Vegetation Link registry – effectively creating the Biological Diversity Units. When you purchase these units, each purchase is linked to a certificate of Sale issued by Vegetation Link.
Periodic inspections are conducted by the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA), with additional monitoring conducted by Wilderlands Ecologists in accordance with the Wilderlands Project Monitoring Plan.
Gallery
What's happening
Mountain Ash – the giants of the forest
Otway Black Snail
What are Voluntary Biodiversity Credits?
Other Projects
Crowes Lookout
Home to mountainous vistas, tall trees, and fern-rich gullies, lies Crowes Lookout, only 170 kilometres south-west of Melbourne near the scenic town of Lavers Hill in the Otway Ranges. Crowes Lookout is characterised by towering trees of Mountain Grey-gum (Eucalyptus cypellocarpa), Southern Blue-gum (Eucalyptus globulus), and Messmate Stringybark (Eucalyptus obliqua), reaching over 60 metres tall and providing an arboreal ecosystem of micro-bats, gliders, and birds.
Budgerum
In the heart of the Victorian Riverina, one of the most productive areas of agriculture in Australia and only 250 kilometres north of Melbourne, lies Budgerum, a farming district of flat, grassy plains alongside the Avoca River. Grassland communities are some of the most highly threatened ecosystems on the planet, with grassland reserves being reduced to small, fragmented patches across the landscape as land has been converted to agriculture. For this reason, protection of the remaining native grasslands across the Victorian Riverina is critical to the long-term survival of species that call this community their home. Examples of species dependent on these grassy ecosystems include the critically endangered Plains Wanderer and the nationally endangered Turnip Copperburr.
Alleena
Located in the heart of the NSW Riverina, this 4500 acre landscape is addressing the decline of the suite of birds dependent on intact woodland ecosystems for foraging and nesting.
Coorong Lakes
Located in Meningie in South Australia, this 200 hectare landscape is a project delivered in partnership with the Ngarrindjeri people, the Traditional Custodians of the Coorong. It sees native plants supplied by the local nursery at Raukkan, a self-governed Aboriginal community 30 km northwest of the site and many Raukkan community members employed for onsite work and delivering activities such as vegetation monitoring and mapping and fencing with a focus on ensuring these communities can continue to preserve and protect this culturally important pocket of land.