SAAL board funds community-driven projects
Arid Recovery will study the interactions of threatened Plains Mice with Western Quolls inside its fenced reserve, and outside it in a partnership with Kokatha Rangers.
Funding has been provided for replacement fences and dedicated camera traps that will be used to target Plains Mice after numbers began to drop in areas where Western quolls had been reintroduced.
This project was just one of 17 funded in the SA Arid Lands Landscape Board’s Grassroots Grants program for 2026/27.
Also funded this year are projects to limit impacts of pest plants and animals, including support for volunteers who have been central to cactus control in the North Flinders for many years, and a pastoral property that has been fighting the spread of a number of declared weeds.
Student and youth learning is central to five different projects. Nukunu Wapma Thura received funding for a community-led cultural event at Quorn’s Pithi Kawi Bush Food Garden, which will bring together Elders, youth, students and residents to celebrate Nukunu culture through storytelling, and language activities.
Hawker Area School students will be involved in planting 100 Eucalypts in the development of a community walking trail; a day-long nature-based learning experience at Stirling North Primary School will be offered for Year 5-6 students; and at Leigh Creek Area School, students will be involved in hands-on learning experiences covering ecological monitoring with Yellow-footed Rock wallabies.
Port Augusta Coastcare received funding to offer local schools and the community an environmental education program with the Marine Discovery Centre.
Other projects funded include a 100,000l rainwater tank to reduce pressure on the shared aquifer in use in Blinman; and upgraded signage at Strangways Springs and the Mt Ive Native Bush Food Garden.
SA Arid Lands Landscape Board chair Douglas Lillecrapp said all funded projects aligned with the board’s key priorities and the goals of the Grassroots Grants program.
“In a year with such high rainfall, it’s great to see an application to preserve old Bullock Bush and young emu bush near Quorn, and other projects to manage weeds,” he said.
The board received 25 applications worth $287, 843 for this year’s round, with $150,000 on offer. It is the seventh round of the Grassroots Grants, an annual funding program introduced with the Landscape South Australia Act 2019.
For information on who received grants and details of the projects now underway, visit www.landscape.sa.gov.au/saal
