Kangaroo Island
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KI Grassroots Grants 2024-25

The 2024-25 KI Grassroots Grants helped landholders and community groups do a range of projects on Kangaroo Island including:

KI Grassroots Grants 2024-25
Leighton Wilksch from AgByte is helped by KICE student Jack Kay to install the weather station at Parndana Campus. (Image: KICE)

KICE Weather Station

Recipient: Kangaroo Island Community Education: Parndana Campus

This grant supported the installation of a weather station at Kangaroo Island Community Education (KICE) — Parndana Campus. Students participated in the installation and the data being generated is being used as a learning tool, particularly in Agriculture Science classes to enable students to monitor weather and soil data and changing farming conditions across the island, and in other subjects as well.

KI Grassroots Grants 2024-25
Volunteer Meaghan May at the Parndana Community Garden, following fencing and the planting of bird-attracting native plants.

Vermin proof fencing around the Parndana Community Garden

Recipient: Parndana Community Garden sponsored by the Parndana Progress Association

This grant supported the Parndana Community Garden to build a fence around the garden to protect it from native animal browsers, such as Tammar wallabies, and enable the garden to be expanded. Thirty-six native plants were planted in the newly fenced area to attract small birds that are beneficial to the garden. Read more about this project here.

KI Grassroots Grants 2024-25
Feral cats photographed by remote cameras on KI Land for Wildlife volunteer's properties. (Image: KI Land for Wildlife)

KI Land for Wildlife feral cat monitoring

Recipient: Kangaroo Island Land for Wildlife Association

This grant supported volunteers from the Kangaroo Island Land for Wildlife Association to remotely monitor private conservation land for feral cat presence, guiding control efforts across 25 properties. Feral cats were monitored by 50 remote cameras which gave daily alert updates of feral cat presence. This was forwarded to 65 landholders for strategic, property-based, feral cat control using the Encounter Solutions Celium cage trapping technology, resulting in the removal of 89 feral cats. 135 students were also engaged in the project through school excursions, increasing their knowledge of threatened species protection.

Bringing back the bush, the birds….and the bees

Recipient: Landholders in Duncan

This grant supported the landholders to host two afternoon sessions on their property for the local community as part of the state-wide Nature Festival. Twenty-four people came and learnt about the landholders revegetation efforts over the past 22 years and how cleared landscapes can be restored through revegetation to improve habitat for native species. Presentations were given at each session on the history of the revegetation, the post-fire nest-box research project and the importance of revegetation for birdlife. Guests then had the opportunity to undertake either a:

  • guided walk looking at native plants and revegetated areas
  • bird survey
  • guided walk viewing nest boxes and native orchids
  • sit in the 'botanic gardens' area of revegetation.
KI Grassroots Grants 2024-25
Local KI Community Education school students helped the landholders to plant their shelterbelt containing threatened KI native plants. (Image: E Nolan)

Native vegetation shelterbelt

Recipient: Landholder in Haines

This landholder was supported to establish a 1.2 ha fenced shelterbelt of native vegetation containing 1,000 native plants, including threatened plants. The shelterbelt will enhance biodiversity, create vital habitat for wildlife and provide shelter for their livestock. The landholders worked closely with the local school, Kangaroo Island Education – Kingscote Campus and the Board’s Environmental Education Coordinator, enabling four school classes to participate in the revegetation.

KI Grassroots Grants 2024-25
Sarah Stanton showing the rich vermi-compost produced by the commercial worm farms at her vermi-composting workshop.

Sustainable agriculture for community, soils and economy

Recipient: Landholder in Cassini

The landholder was supported to established two commercial worm farms to produce high-quality vermicast for use across their market garden and broader mixed farming system using waste from their commercial vegetable and broadacre operations. Early trials indicate benefits to soil structure, increased soil water retention, plant resilience and reduced pest pressures. To promote the results, the landholder held a community vermi-composting workshop on farm, featuring live demonstrations and practical tips for the 22 attendees.

KI Grassroots Grants 2024-25
Revegetation in a newly fenced patch of old-growth remnant vegetation. (Image: C Paterson)

Protecting old growth woodlands for threatened species habitat in the Black Summer firescar

Recipient: Landholder in Middle River

The landholder was supported to fence off three old-growth remnant woodlands within the pastures of their property, that had been degraded by cattle grazing. Three hundred locally sourced native trees and shrubs were planted around the perimeter of two of the three remnant woodlands, with support from Kangaroo Island Eco-Action who provided planting equipment, and Kangaroo Island Land for Wildlife volunteers assisted with the planting. Two hectare, 20-minute, standardised bird surveys were established in each patch using the BirdLife Birdata app. Photopoints were also set up in the two revegetated remnants to monitor changes over time. Since fencing the area the landholder has found hare orchids (Leptoceras menziesii) growing in the protected area for the first time.