$3.84 million boost to help SA’s landscape boards take climate action

News article | 23 July 2026

South Australia’s landscape boards are set to roll out nearly $4 million in landscape-scale projects that boost biodiversity, improve water health and support sustainable agricultural productivity statewide.

Fourteen new projects will kickstart in 2026 thanks to the Landscape Priorities Fund (LPF), which uses a portion of Green Adelaide’s metropolitan landscape levies to protect and restore regional landscapes.

Now in its sixth year, the LPF has invested $32 million into natural resource management projects that deliver outcomes throughout regional South Australia.

“The breadth of work that SA’s landscape boards undertake is vast and this is matched by the possibilities of the Landscape Priorities Fund,” said Minister for Climate, Environment and Water Emily Bourke.

“Grants can be applied to a variety of projects, making a big difference exactly where it is needed.”

$3.84 million boost to help SA’s landscape boards take climate action — Thanks to LPF funding, the Kangaroo Island Landscape Board will continue its Natural Resource Management (NRM) Education program, working with students across three school campuses.

In the 2026-27 LPF round, more than half of the funds – $2.1 million – are dedicated to projects that build nature-based resilience to climate change.

They focus on restoring habitat and native species, improving water health, strengthening local stewardship and controlling pest plants and animals that place extra pressure on landscapes during times of drought and climate variability.

“The Landscape Priorities Fund plays an important role in supporting coordinated, large-scale efforts to deliver outcomes across the state,” said Green Adelaide Director Brenton Grear. “These new projects are focused on local needs, yet with a strategic focus on climate adaption.

“Green Adelaide’s investment is helping strengthen the state’s long-term sustainability and recognises that regional areas are valued by metropolitan communities for the food, fibre and other benefits they provide.”

Some of the project activities under the collective ‘Building nature-based resilience to climate change’ theme include:

Nature restoration

Native fauna and flora monitoring in the Alinytjara Wiluṟara region - the state’s north west – to determine strategies for future protection.

Improving the climate resilience of native flat oyster (Ostrea angasi) reefs on Eyre Peninsula.

Trialling paddock tree restoration in the Murraylands and Riverland region.

Water health

Improving water health and quality by increasing vegetation along Kangaroo Island’s waterways.

Investigating options to improve water use efficiency in industries across the Lower Limestone Coast region

Monitoring the health of SA Arid Lands springs impacted by seasonal variability, groundwater extraction and pest plants and animals.

Education and stewardship

Strengthening relationships with Traditional Owners in the Alinytjara Wiluṟara region to support culturally-led approaches to caring for Country.

Continuing Kangaroo Island Landscape Board’s natural resource management education program with local students.

High-priority pest control

Strategic management of buffel grass and feral herbivores to improve landscape health and build climate resilience surrounding the significant Mount Remarkable and Southern Flinders National Parks.

Pest plant and animal control is a strong focus for several other projects named in the latest LPF round. Eyre Peninsula Landscape Board will target rabbits, foxes and wild dogs through a coordinated pest control project that aims to strengthen native ecosystems, primary production and coastal environments across Eyre Peninsula.

Kangaroo Island Landscape Board will tackle 15 priority weeds with the use of spatial detection and mapping tools. And the SA Arid Lands Landscape Board will use funds to control pest plants and animals flourishing after drought-breaking floods.

Managing weed impacts on native vegetation is also part of the fire recovery intervention work of Landscapes Hills and Fleurieu. Their LPF project aims to act quickly following the 2026 Deep Creek and Tooperang-Nangkita bushfires to protect biodiversity and reduce local extinctions.

Find out more about the projects funded in the 2026-27 Landscape Priorities Fund round.