DOC Community Fund – Pūtea Tautiaki Hapori (New Zealand)

Deadline: 31-Jan-23

The Department of Conservation (DOC) is accepting applications for the DOC Community Fund – Pūtea Tautiaki Hapori to support community-led conservation projects on public and private land.

The DOC Community Fund is focused on projects that:

• Protect and enhance threatened species and ecosystems, or
• Protect or restore significant cultural heritage sites and/or maintain infrastructure in the backcountry.

Funding Information

• For this round, there is $9.2 million available. It is split into two streams with $7.2 million available for threatened species and ecosystem projects and $2 million available for cultural heritage projects.
• Seeks funding for up to 3 years is for a minimum of $30,000.

Eligibility Criteria

• Apply for funding for threatened species and ecosystems
  • You can apply to this funding stream if the project:
    • Reduces the extinction risk of priority threatened species (limited to those defined as Nationally Critical, Nationally Endangered or Nationally Vulnerable) at their priority management sites or protects and enhances priority ecosystems (guided by the Top 850 Ecosystem Management Units, Ngā Awa sites, Marine Reserves and Rare and Threatened Ecosystem types)
    • Is community-led (For example, led by whānau, hapū, iwi, community conservation groups, not-for-profit organisations or umbrella groups. Government departments and local authorities cannot apply.)
• Apply for funding for cultural heritage
  • You can apply for this funding stream if the project:
    • Protects and improves places and stories key to understanding and appreciating Aotearoa New Zealand's cultural heritage, or maintains visitor infrastructure that connects New Zealanders to their backcountry
    • Is community-led (For example, led by whānau, hapū, iwi, community conservation groups, not-for-profit organisations or umbrella groups. Government departments and local authorities cannot apply.)

Assessment Criteria

• Your application will be assessed on the following criteria.
  • The extent of conservation benefits that will be delivered, including the protection or restoration of significant cultural heritage sites (eg stabilisation of heritage structures, historical or archaeological research, recording or cataloguing of oral histories) or the maintenance of visitor infrastructure in the backcountry.
  • The extent to which the project will help to deliver wider conservation benefits, including biodiversity, volunteer effort, stakeholder collaboration, co-design work and partnerships that connect New Zealanders with their culture and nature.
  • Priority will be given to projects where whānau, hapū and iwi exercise their role as rangatira and kaitiaki, and to projects that support Te Ao Māori and mātauranga Māori, respecting tangata whenua values and aspirations for the environment.
  • The readiness of the project and the likelihood of success – demonstrating the required skill sets and capability to deliver the project and providing a reasonable and realistic project budget and timeframe.
  • The likelihood that, and extent to which, project benefits will be sustained.

For more information, visit DOC.