Spend any time at all exploring the coast along the Great Ocean Road and you will soon discover a diverse natural environment offering a range of different habitats from sandy beaches and dune systems to estuaries and lowland forests. Such diversity makes for an abundance of local indigenous plant species as the following small sampler tries to show.

From wild orchids to flowering shrubs, native grasses and forest species, our coast is a plant-lover's delight. But with 11 of our 14 diverse vegetation communities currently rated as rare, vulnerable, depleted or endangered - including our beautiful Coastal Moonah Woodland - it is up to all of us to do what we can to protect and conserve our native flora from threats such as invasive weeds.

Wild orchids

(L-R) Banded Greenhood and Leopard Orchid

(L-R) Mayfly Orchid and Nodding Greenhood

Coastal shrubs, succulents and forest communities

(L-R) Leucopogon and lowland forest

(L-R) Moonah in flower and Samphires