Deadline: 31-Mar-23
The Otago Regional Council is offering grants through its ECO Fund to support community-led projects that protect, enhance or promote Otago’s environment.
Priority projects could include:
- Biodiversity (e.g. regeneration or planting of native vegetation)
- Biosecurity (e.g. pest plant or animal management)
- Water quality (e.g. riparian planting or wetland restoration)
Funding Information
- Funding is capped at $50,000 total for any project for ECO Fund.
- Funding is available for projects up to 3 years.
Activities
The types of activities the ECO Fund can be used for includes:
- On-ground works.
- Education and capacity building.
- Awareness raising.
- Administrative support (up to 50% of the cost).
Eligibility Criteria
- Funding is available for groups in the Otago region who is working on projects that will protect, enhance or promote the environment, including:
- Community groups.
- Iwi/hapu.
- Incorporated societies.
- Community trusts.
- Resident and ratepayer groups.
- Landowner groups.
- Educational institutes.
- Projects must engage or involve the community.
- Applications for Incentives Funding — Biodiversity enhancement on protected private land can be from individual landowners and do not need to engage or involve the community.
Terms & Conditions
- Projects must meet the objectives of the ECO Fund and align with at least one ORC strategic priority to eligible. Note that projects for Incentives Funding – Biodiversity enhancement on protected private land do not need to meet the objective for enabling community driven environmental activities.
- Except for multi-year projects, projects must be completed within 12 months of receiving funding.
- All applications for each round are assessed and ranked against the ECO Fund assessment criteria (link to criteria to be provided).
- All funding is GST exclusive. All financial information provided in an application must be exclusive of GST.
- The ECO fund supports both one-off projects and those running over multiple years for up to 3 years. For multiple year funding, funds will be released annually conditional upon appropriate project reports which demonstrate meaningful progress being submitted.
- Successful applicants must agree to Otago Regional Council promoting their project.
- Applicants must have completed accountability (final) reports for any previous ECO Fund grants received to be eligible for funding.
- If work funded is not completed within the specified time frame or funds are not spent as agreed, Otago Regional Council reserves the right to demand the return of funds.
- The ECO Fund does not provide funding for:
- Commercial or private gain.
- Government organisations.
- Projects created to comply with Resource Consent conditions.
- Responses to any actual or potential enforcement action (excluding projects under the sustained rabbit control programme).
- The purpose of seed capital.
- Individuals.
- Maintenance for existing projects.
- Retrospective costs.
For more information, visit Otago Regional Council.