Northern and Yorke landscapes to share in $4.2 million funding boost

Landscapes within the Northern and Yorke region will benefit from a $4 million boost in funding under the inaugural round of the Marshall Liberal Government’s Landscape Priorities Fund.

Nine projects across the state have shared in the $4.2 million funding, with three of the projects addressing priority landscape management issues in Northern and Yorke’s patch.

Northern and Yorke Landscape Board General Manager Tony Fox said the Landscape Priorities Fund provided a welcome financial boost to help manage pest animals and overabundant species.

“Out of the nine funded projects, two provide substantial funding to address the management of feral deer and over-abundant kangaroos, which will deliver flow-on benefits for the Northern and Yorke region,” he said.

“The third delivers funding support to the three Natural Resource Centres within our region during the next financial year. These are community-driven centres that focus on the environment and sustainability and provide a way for the community to connect to their surrounding landscapes.”

The Northern and Yorke Landscape Board is a recipient of the following projects, which are funded from Landscape levies collected in the Adelaide metropolitan area and redistributed to South Australia’s regions:

• Natural Resource Centres Building Capacity ($318,964)
• Stopping the Spread of Feral Deer ($350,000)
• Optimising Kangaroo Management in SA ($350,000)

Minister for Environment and Water David Speirs said the historic program was a key part of the Marshall Liberal Government Landscape SA reform to deliver a more effective, decentralised, back to basics approach to natural resources management.

“Landscape SA is about building partnerships, rolling up your sleeves and working together to support our landscapes to thrive – leading to healthy and resilient communities, sustainable production, prosperous businesses and flourishing ecosystems,” Minister Speirs said.

“Our historic Landscape SA reform is putting communities back at the heart of natural resources management and the Landscape Priorities Fund is a key part of this.

“The Landscape Priorities Fund is a significant change to how Landscape levies are collected and distributed and will deliver practical projects which wouldn’t have been possible under the old system.

“Nine projects have shared in $4.2 million of funding in the inaugural round which will see a diverse range of environmental benefits across South Australia.

“While the projects will be delivered by South Australian regional landscape boards, importantly they will work closely with other organisations and individuals, like Aboriginal community groups, local councils, conservation groups, businesses and landowners.

“This is just another example of the Marshall Liberal Government’s commitment to bettering our environment and is part of our once-in-a-generation record investment in parks across the state.”

The Fund is supported from levies collected by Green Adelaide and is enshrined in the new Landscape South Australia Act 2019, enabling investment in large, landscape scale projects addressing regional and cross-regional priorities. Projects will commence in June 2021.

For more information, contact the Northern and Yorke Landscape Board on 88841 3444.