Healthier landscapes from long-term Grassroots Grants funding
For the first time the Northern and Yorke Landscape Board has funded multi-year Grassroots Grants projects, giving community groups, schools, First Nations and councils longer-term capital to make a difference to the environment in their patch.
The Board has awarded $214,000 to 25 projects for the 2024-2025 Grassroots Grants program and committed another $158,000 to 14 projects extending across the following two years.
Northern and Yorke Landscape Board General Manager Tony Fox said the multi-year funding option was popular among applicants, with four 2-year and ten 3-year projects receiving funding.
“It allows them to tackle those big picture projects that require resources over several years,” he said. “For example, activities like weed control and revegetation often take sustained efforts over many seasons to ensure they’re successful.”
One of the multi-year projects is the Aboriginal Land Trust’s Baroota Creek Restoration, a 3-year project that aims to protect 44 hectares of land at Baroota from neighbouring stock and woody weeds through fencing and pest plant control. Another 3-year project will allow Nature Foundation to monitor endangered pygmy bluetongue lizards with the support of Burra School students and families.
Other projects include woody weed control along a riverbank by the Upper Wakefield Landcare Group over 2 years, while The Nharangga Aboriginal Progress Association will use the funding to create a native garden as a sacred cultural circle, an inclusive space for storytelling, ceremonies and gatherings. The one-year project will also cultivate indigenous plants for food, medicine and ceremony.
Now in its fifth year, the Grassroots Grants program is about backing the Northern and Yorke region’s landholders and community groups to deliver landscape management projects they are passionate about.
Between $2,000 and $10,000 was available for one-year projects, with up to $30,000 on the table for successful projects over 3 years.
All of the Grassroots Grants-funded projects align with one or more of the Board’s Regional Landscape Plan priorities, which are biodiversity, communities, pest plant and animal control, water management and sustainable agriculture.
Typical projects include weed, pest or disease control, watercourse or wetland management, revegetation, survey and monitoring activities, sustainable agriculture trials, cultural knowledge sharing and community education.
A dedicated funding pool of $50,000 was on offer for First Nations-led projects. Four First Nations’ organisations received funding with the remaining amount going to the Board’s Nature Education program, which supports cultural education in schools.
The Grassroots Grants program is offered annually through the regional landscape levy, with the next round of applications opening in autumn 2025. View the list of 2024-2025 Grassroots Grants recipients.
