EP community keen to get on with new NRM focused projects
A heightened emphasis on healthy paddock soils, new opportunities for supporting First Nations culture on country, community nominated coastal management projects and new native gardens are just some of many small projects to be given the go ahead through the most recent round of grant funding from the Eyre Peninsula Natural Resources Management Board.
Eyre Peninsula Natural Resources Management Board Presiding Member Mr Mark Whitfield said it turned out to be a highly competitive Small Grants round, with the most applications to date received from the Eyre Peninsula community.
“This year the community has submitted a record number of solution- based applications and I thank everyone who applied,” Mr Whitfield said.
“The funding pool for this round of grants was $145,000 and we received 41 applications requesting a total of $213,768. On assessing the applications, we approved 32 grants to those applicants who best demonstrated a contribution to achieving targets within the Eyre Peninsula Regional NRM Plan.”
Natural Resources Eyre Peninsula Planning and Engagement Manager Susan Stovell said applications were up 40 per cent on previous years.
“It is encouraging to see that many different community groups in the region are having a proactive role in protecting the natural resource base and landscapes that support our livelihoods and lifestyles here on Eyre Peninsula,” she said.
“It’s also encouraging to see the depth of applications this year, particularly from our agriculture sector, which is looking at how to apply and share regenerative agriculture learnings, and also our local teachers and educators, who are building awareness of culture and the importance of natural resources in the landscape with children across the region.”
To find out about similar grant opportunities in future visit www.environment.sa.gov.au/get-involved/grants-and-funding or subscribe to Environment SA News.
The successful recipients of the EP NRM Board’s Small Grant 2019-2020 funding round include:
Aboriginal Community
• Ceduna Aboriginal Corporation - Indigenous language mapping
• Port Lincoln Children’s Centre - Native bush garden
• Navigator college - Navigator College small scale native plant nursery
• Ngura Yadurirn Children and Family Centre - Back to Country trips
• St Joseph’s School Port Lincoln - Yarda Wardarna project
• Streaky Bay Children’s Centre - Connections with local beaches and Wirangu culture in Streaky Bay
• Far West Coast Aboriginal Corporation - Coastal awareness workshops.
Community and Local Government
• Big Swamp Community Centre - Assessment for the Environmental, educational and tourism values of the Big Swamp wetlands
• City of Whyalla – 1) Cuttlefish Drive - dive facilities landscaping works, 2) Whyalla foreshore - 1.2km long frontal dune - oversow seeding works, and 3) Foreshore educational signs
• Coulta Water Scheme - Protecting Red gum and EP Bluegum Woodlands at Coulta
• Cultana Jenkins Shack Owners Association - Revegetation for CJSA coastal area
• District Council of Elliston - Elliston Landscape Volunteers Group
• District Council of Tumby Bay - Interpretative mangrove boardwalk upgrade
• Fisk Street Primary School - Indigenous garden
• Friends of Southern Eyre Peninsula Parks - Restoring Sheoak Grassy Woodland at Wanna
• Point Boston Community Corporation - Managing the coastal environment at Point Boston
• Poochera sports complex - Saving our backyard using sustainable garden practices
• Port Neil Progress Association - A sustainable focus for Anear Park
• St Joseph’s School Port Lincoln - Yarda Wardarna project.
Farming Systems
• Buckleboo Farm Improvement Group – 1) Investigating alternative possibilities for ameliorating sub soils, including grey alkaline calcareous soils on eastern Eyre Peninsula, 2) Understanding our soils on eastern Eyre Peninsula for women.
• Charlton Gully Women in Agriculture Bureau - Regenerative agriculture tour.
• Lower Eyre Agriculture Development Association – 1) Lower Eyre Peninsula knowledge transfer ‘LEADA Ag Expo’, 2) Innovative adaptation in Agriculture.
• Louth Bay Landcare Group - Crop nutrition trials.
• Women Learning Together (WoTL) – 1) Learning between communities - a bus trip from Cowell to Kimba, 2) Farm decision making and communication workshop, and 3) Opportunities for groups that support EP rural women to better coordinate.
• Society of Precision Agriculture Australia (SPAA) - Precision Decisions, ‘Striving to be more efficient with technology on hand’.
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