Environment Fund support to top $4 million

A local authority fund set up in the mid-1990s to help people improve and protect Northland’s natural environment will have given away about $4.2 million by the end of this financial year.

For almost a decade from 1996, the Northland Regional Council set aside about $100,000 annually for the fund, however, that yearly figure increased dramatically in 2005 to almost $300,000 to help meet some of the council’s land management goals.

Dean Evans, the regional council’s Land Programme Manager, says, annual funding increased again the following year to $500,000 and has remained around that level since.

He says given the fund typically contributes up to half the cost of a project, it effectively means more than $8 million worth of initiatives benefitting the regional environment will have been carried out by July next year.

The fund is open to individuals and voluntary groups for eligible projects, mainly on private land.  Landowners, community and conservation organisations and local Maori groups have all successfully applied to the Environment Fund.

Mr Evans says changes two years ago mean applications for funding can now be made virtually year-round (rather a previously much smaller 10-week window) and a total of 57 projects were completed in the 2010-2011 financial year.

Twenty-two of those projects were in the Far North (representing 38% of the available funding), 21 in the Whangarei district (37% of funding) and 14 in the Kaipara (25% of funding).

“Changes in funding streams in 2010 meant the most popular projects during
2010-2011 were fencing, mainly of streams and wetlands for water quality, biodiversity, soil conservation and erosion control.”

Mr Evans says about $75,000 of Environment Fund money annually is ring-fenced for qualifying biosecurity projects, typically pest and weed control.  Water quality projects attracted 35% of the remaining funding, followed by biodiversity (23%), soil conservation (21%) and coastal projects (19%).

The remaining two percent went on ‘exceptional’ projects, in this case helping part-fund a salary for a Bream Head ranger.

Mr Evans says the Environment Fund typically contributes up to 50 percent of the total cost of a project.  Applicants must be able to provide the remainder of the cost with time, cash, other funding or in-kind contributions such as voluntary labour and donated materials.

“Projects must be of long-term benefit to the local environment and show clear evidence of good resource management.  Projects designed to generate personal or commercial profit, required under resource consent, or to simply beautify a site, are not eligible.”

He says the smallest grant awarded in 2010-2011 was $813 for fencing at Whangaruru, while the largest - $32,000 – was also spent on fencing, this time in the Kaikohe area.

Information on the Environment Fund (including application forms and guidelines) is available from the regional council’s website www.nrc.govt.nz/environmentfund or by calling (0800) 002 004.