Deadline: 22 March 2019
The Department of Conservation is pleased to announce its Community Fund to support community-led conservation projects on public and private land.
The fund is directed towards practical projects aimed at conserving New Zealand’s indigenous biodiversity.
Focus Areas
Projects are focused on:
- protecting and restoring our natural habitats
- halting the decline of and restoring healthy, sustainable populations of our native species.
Funding Information
Approximately $8 million will be available for this round.
- Small Grants: For individuals or groups requesting $20,000 or less
- Large Grants: For individuals or groups requesting more than $20,000
Funding Criteria
Grants can be used towards activities that are focused on biodiversity. This includes costs associated with training (including health and safety) where it is included as a component of a project that includes on-ground activities.
Funding for salaries and contractors is also eligible but applicants must demonstrate in the application form why these are vital to the completion of the project.
The fund cannot support:
- retrospective costs (ie costs incurred prior to a Deed of Grant being signed)
- reimbursement of landowner time or voluntary labour
- activities that individuals, organisations or councils are required to do by law
- proposals that are designed to generate personal or commercial profit
- the development of an activity for which public use will be restricted by copyright or patent
- debt repayment or the refinancing of loans
- participation in statutory processes or litigation
- venture capital
- land purchase
- academic scholarships
- local and central government fees and charges, with the exception of fees associated with submitting an application for resource consent, but excluding costs for the public notification of an application and other associated costs (eg related to hearings).
Eligibility Criteria
Applicants can apply to the DOC Community Fund if the following eligibility criteria are met:
- The project is focused on protecting and improving New Zealand’s indigenous biodiversity.
- The project is community-led (i.e. led by persons or entities other than government departments and local authorities. This includes landowners, Māori land trust, not-for-profit organisations, umbrella groups or whanau/hapū/iwi)
- The project will be funded for up to 3 years.
- The applicant is a legal entity who is able to enter into a funding agreement with DOC.
Please Note: Individuals are also classed as a legal entity. The individual or group applying to the fund must be the same individual or group who will run the project. Government departments and local authorities are not eligible to apply to the fund.
Assessment Criteria
Application will be assessed on:
- the extent to which indigenous biodiversity will be protected, restored, or enhanced (ie, protecting, restoring and enhancing our natural habitats and native species)
- the extent to which the project engages volunteers, the community and other stakeholders in the delivery of the project (eg, iwi/hapū, landowners, NGOs and local councils)
- recognition will be given to projects that support of Te Ao Māori and Māturanga Māori, respecting mana whenua values and aspirations for the environment
- the likelihood of success – demonstrating the required skills and capability to deliver the project and providing a reasonable and realistic project budget.
How to Apply
Applicants can download the application form via given website.
Eligible Country: New Zealand
For more information, please visit https://www.doc.govt.nz/doc-community-fund