Deadline: 6-Dec-22
The one-off round of Nature Refuge Disaster Recovery Grants Program is now open for applications.
The Nature Refuge Disaster Recovery Grant program is providing funding to support nature refuges that were heavily impacted by the extraordinary disaster events that occurred during 2021–2022.
Objectives
- The grants support eligible nature refuge landholders to undertake on-ground projects that rehabilitate and restore cyclone, rain and flood-affected environments to maintain healthy ecosystems and improve resilience for future disaster events.
- Applicants will need to demonstrate how their project will protect and enhance the significant natural and cultural resources of their nature refuge as outlined in their conservation agreement.
Funding Information
- Applicants may seek funding for grants of between $2,500 and $10,000 (excluding GST). Funding is provided as a GST exclusive amount.
Eligible Projects and Activities
- Eligible projects are those that:
- undertake activities based within an impacted eligible local government area and
- directly or indirectly assist the recovery of nature refuges from those specified disaster events and increase disaster resilience.
- Eligible nature refuge landholders can apply for grant funding for the following land management activities:
- Managing the impacts of flooding on the nature refuge and conserving the area’s significant cultural and natural resources.
- Restoring flood impacted areas to a more resilient landscape, including the revegetation of degraded areas and re-establishment of vegetation corridors.
- Surveying areas affected by the disaster events through research, data collection and mapping to assess the level of impact and opportunity for recovery.
- Controlling environmental weeds to rehabilitate disaster impacted native vegetation areas (including biological control methods, declared pest plants, and where legal obligations to control apply).
- Developing and implementing pest animal or pest plant management plans or programs.
- Activities that are wholly within the nature refuge boundary, and/or outside the boundary if it can be demonstrated there will be direct environmental benefit to the recovery of the nature refuge.
- Other activities relevant to conserving and managing the nature refuge’s value will also be considered. For example, this may include activities related to fire management, ecological surveys, off-stream stock watering points where a sensitive watercourse/wetland has been fenced off, erosion control and reducing sediment loss, wildlife monitoring.
Eligibility Criteria
- To be eligible, applicants must be a current nature refuge landholder as noted on the property title.
- Applications will be considered from nature refuges located in an eligible Queensland local government area that experienced one or more of the following eligible disaster events:
- Central, Southern and Western Queensland Rainfall and Flooding between 10 November 2021 and 3 December 2021
- Ex-Tropical Cyclone Seth between 29 December 2021 and 10 January 2022
- Southeast Queensland Rainfall and Flooding between 22 February 2022 and 5 April 2022
- Southern Queensland Flooding between 6 May 2022 and 20 May 2022.
Ineligibility Criteria
- The following applicants are ineligible to apply for funding:
- Queensland Government agencies
- Australian Government agencies
- statutory bodies and authorities
- government owned corporations
For more information, visit https://www.qld.gov.au/environment/parks/protected-areas/private/landholder-grants
