Hills and Fleurieu Grassroots Grants awarded for 2023

These Grassroots Grants, awarded by the Hills and Fleurieu Landscape Board, will be used for a range of projects targeted at biodiversity, waterways, soil health, climate adaptation; and First Nations’ connection to Country.

Chair of the Hills and Fleurieu Landscape Board, David Greenhough, said Grassroots Grants help support the outstanding efforts of individuals, volunteers, schools, community organisations, First Nations and not-for-profit groups.

“So many people in the community are doing great work to improve the environment – often in their own time. We hope these grants will encourage and support their fantastic work.”

“This year’s funding will support many different projects, ranging from protecting pygmy possums and rare birds, helping more farmers adopt regenerative agriculture, and fencing off fragile watercourses and vegetation from stock.”

As an example, ‘Greening the Bremer’ is a project run by the Kanmantoo-Callington Landcare Group. Volunteers and landholders will use the grant to continue fencing properties on the Hills and Fleurieu region side of the Bremer River, which was begun last year. This grant builds on the impressive work done so far including fencing substantial sections of both sides of the river, and planting 14 ha of native plants.

“This project across multiple sites was co-funded by a Murraylands and Riverland Landscape Board grant, and is a great example of cross collaboration and partnerships,” Mr Greenhough said.

Another project is supporting Western Pygmy-possums, which survive in small numbers on the Fleurieu Peninsula but face many threats including cats, foxes, and land clearing. This Grassroots Grant will help Conservation Volunteers Australia involve citizen scientists in contributing to current knowledge about the range of the Western Pygmy-possum.

The project will use non-invasive methods to check nest boxes, analyse remote camera footage of the animals, and, hopefully, set up a live video stream showing what the possums get up to inside nest boxes.

A Grassroots Grant has also been awarded to ‘Tirkandi – Country, Culture, Climate and Connection’, a program for young First Nations students to reconnect to Country by Burka-Senior Man Karl Winda Telfer. Up to 30 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders will learn about traditional and ecological land management practices on Country at Kanyanyapilla in the Willunga Basin. Young people will participate in cultural fire ceremonies and practices while walking Country. They will also help regenerate the cultural landscape that has been farmed since colonisation, restore local native plant species, and learn about climate resilience.

“We look forward to seeing some inspiring outcomes from these great projects,” Mr Greenhough said.

Read the full list of this year’s Grassroots Grants recipients here.

To apply for a grant in 2024, keep an eye out here on the Landscapes Hills and Fleurieu website and on the Facebook page early next year.