Friday 9 December 2005

Regional council fund gives another half a million dollars to environmental projects

The Bay of Plenty’s largest environmental fund has almost hit the $5 million mark after its latest round of allocations.

Environment Bay of Plenty’s Environmental Enhancement Fund has granted a further $500,000 to 30 community and council projects this year. The new allocations bring the grand total from the past six years to nearly $5 million.

Finance committee chairman Bill Cleghorn says the regional council received 80 applications totalling just over $2 million. “It was particularly encouraging to see such a large number of applications, especially because so many were of a high standard,” he says, “However, it made it very difficult for us to select the projects that would receive funding.”

Mr Cleghorn congratulated the successful applicants.“Their proposed outcomes auger well for the future of the Bay of Plenty.”

New projects funded by the Environmental Enhancement Fund range from lagoon restoration to education workshops to heritage-focused work. In size, they start from as little as $1000 and increase to just over $50,000 for conservation work on the Waioeka Gorge’s Tauranga Bridge.

Community engagement coordinator Jillian Houghton says several groups have received funding before, like The Elms Foundation, which will use its grant to catalogue the contents of the Mission House in Tauranga. Others are first-time applicants, including Whakatane man John Groom. He now has funding to carry out pest animal control that helps protect endangered dotterels. As usual, a number of Maori trusts are also successful applicants this year.

Successful applicants are:

- Hukutaia Domain Advisory Committee, to produce labels for plants in Hukutaia Domain and update the plant catalogue, $1016

- Department of Conservation, to continue conservation work on the Tauranga Bridge in the Waioeka Gorge, $51,500

- Opotiki Heritage and Agricultural Society, to preserve the heritage of the Shalfoon building complex, Opotiki by replacing the parapet wall, $30,897

- Ngati Rangiteaorere Kahikatea Trust, to carry out weed control to restore and enhance the Kahikatea Stand, Rotorua, $4,211

- Sustainable Business Network - Bay of Plenty, to provide Bay of Plenty businesses with the resources to develop sustainable transport practices and plant sites in the Kopurererua Valley (3 yr project), $41,000

- Fish and Game New Zealand Eastern Region, to restore indigenous riparian communities along 1.3km of the Whirinaki River at Te Whaiti (year 2), $11,963; to restore a wetland-dryland sequence in the Awakaponga Wildlife Management Reserve (stage 2), $34,425

- Lynmore School, to transform Waitawa Bush into a education area and biodiversity zone, $2,860

- Nga Uri o Te Ngahere Trust, to hold a two day wananga on water quality and monitoring techniques, $2,000

- Athenree Homestead Trust Inc, to carry out an archaeological excavation at Stewart Homestead, Athenree, $22,550

- Katikati Archives, to copy Katikati historic information held on microfilm in Tauranga City Library archives, $3,084

- Rotorua District Council, to produce an integrated teaching resource about water ('Water for Schools') for teachers at all school levels, $21,550

- John Groom, to carry out pest animal control to aid the protection of the NZ Dotterel 2 sites west of Whakatane, $1,294

- Kawerau District Council, to remove privet from private properties in the Kawerau district, $3,000

- Kawerau South School, to identify and restore two archaeological resources within the Monika Lanham Reserve by clearing pest plants and replanting with native plants, $32,000

- Western Bay of Plenty District Council, to develop and extend Wild about NZ monitoring and pest management sites in the Western Bay of Plenty (year 3), $9,992

- Kaharoa Kokako Trust, to maintain extend and monitor the animal pest programme in the Kaharoa Conservation Area (Year 4), $15,396

- Te Ariki Lands Trust, to carry out pest plant control and restore an historic site in Rapatu Bay, Lake Tarawera, $4,173

- Mt Ngongotaha Bush Restoration Trust, to control pest animals (possums) in the Ngongataha Scenic Reserve to protect Rata trees, $9,200

- Lake Tarawera Ratepayers Association Inc, to restore Otumutu Lagoon area through pest plant control and replanting, $25,583

- Tauranga Environment Centre Charitable Trust, to coordinate the ‘Sustainable Backyards’ education and action programme. $21,775

- Otanewainuku Kiwi Trust, to extend the existing pest animal control programme to include possum control within 925 hectares of the Otanewainuku Conservation area, $39,561

- SCA Hygiene Australasia, to continue the riparian margin restoration project on the Tarawera River (stage 3), $20,183

- Sharing Nature NZ, to provide free workshops educating the public on all aspects of the natural environment, $3,050

- Matenga Hemaima Okioki Whanau Trust, to carry out pest plant control and replanting at Waioeka Marae, $4,913

- Bay of Plenty Polytechic, to restore the Poike wetland and stream system of Windermere Park, Tauranga, $33,728

- The Elms Foundation, to catalogue the contents of the Mission house, the library not including the books and the textile collection, $40,000

- Warahoe Hapu Trust, to eradicate and control pest plants and enhance the natural character at Tokitareke, $1,866

- Western Heights High School Rotorua, to establish a planted trail that represents the phylogeny of the plant genus Hebe, $3,652

- Rotary Club of Kawerau, to carry out weed spraying at the entrance to Monika Lanham Reserve and produce an informative brochure, $2,750

ENDS

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