Community grants for natural resources projects

News article |

Thirteen community natural resource management projects will share in $120,000 of funding under the Eyre Peninsula Landscape Board’s Grassroots Grants program.

The successful applicants in the grants program include local projects or events that focus on at least one of the EP Landscape Board’s regional priorities of water, sustainable agriculture, pest plants and animals, biodiversity and community.

The projects include removal of pest plant gazania around Perlubie and Streaky Bay; a youth learning on Country camp with Galinyala Arts Hub Aboriginal Corporation in Port Lincoln; crop walks for women in agriculture hosted by WoTL; Hooded Plover workshops with BirdLife Australia to help protect the threatened birds; and creating a learning and sensory garden at Kimba.

EP Landscape Board Chair, Peter Treloar, congratulates the successful grant recipients.

“I’m really pleased to see the diversity of projects that the Eyre Peninsula community is getting involved with to help with the sustainable management of our natural resources,” Mr Treloar says.

“These grants are all about giving the Eyre Peninsula community a helping hand with projects that are focused on managing or improving our local natural resources or providing education about our priority issues.

“I look forward to seeing how these projects progress in the next 12-18 months.”

Successful recipient BirdLife Australia says the grant will allow them to focus on recruiting more local volunteers to help with monitoring threatened Hooded Plovers.

“Eyre Peninsula is an important region for Hooded Plovers, with 25% of the South Australian population occurring within the region,” says Beach-nesting Birds Program Coordinator Renee Mead.

“A small group of dedicated volunteers monitor Hooded Plovers on Eyre Peninsula, but because of the vast landscape, with highly dispersed breeding Hooded Plovers, there is a critical need to increase monitoring efforts in the region.

“Through this project, we aim to recruit new volunteers to participate in the citizen science project, involving local communities to care about, and conserve species which rely on coastal habitats.”

Details of the workshops will be shared on social media once they are finalised.

Community grants for natural resources projects
Landscape Officer Rachael Kannussaar undertaking Hooded Plover monitoring.

Successful recipient Galinyala Arts Hub Aboriginal Corporation will use their grant to host a three-day youth on country program for Port Lincoln youth to transfer knowledge and skills, by Aboriginal people. The participants will also be up-skilled through western educational training in eco and natural resource management.

Evelyn Walker from Galinyala Arts Hub says this will support Aboriginal youth to foster future traditional practices to care for country as the next generation.

Community grants for natural resources projects
Evelyn Walker from Galinyala Arts Hub will help connect youth with caring for country.

In Kimba, a new sensory and learning garden space has been funded to be established at the Eyre Business Centre.

Kathleen Tierney and Kerri Cliff from the Centre say the grant support will allow them to create a unique educational green space in the centre of Kimba for the community, students and visitors.

“We are really looking forward to transforming our gravel and dull yard into a gorgeous green space for the community and visitors to learn and enjoy in Kimba,” says Centre Director, Kathleen Tierney.

“With planned new shade, seating and educational sessions, we hope to attract locals and visitors to enjoy and learn about the many benefits of water-wise gardening in a semi-arid environment.

“We will also partner with Kimba Area School, to expand their ‘Save the Chalky Wattle from extinction’ program, making it accessible to the entire community.”

Located at the Eyre Business Centre, the garden will showcase the Chalky Wattle and other local native plant species, providing information and education about the numerous benefits of growing natives.

Community grants for natural resources projects
Kerri Cliff at the Eyre Business Centre in Kimba which will create a learning garden space with their Grassroots Grant funding.

Activities for the successful projects will take place within the next 12-18 months.

Grassroots Grants are offered annually in each of the State’s landscape board regions, as part of the Landscape SA Act 2019, funded by the Board levy.

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