Environmental projects gain support  

Big budgets don’t have to mean big grants and that’s certainly the case in the environment sector, where the Trust often contributes $20,000 or $30,000 to an organisation’s operating costs.

Trustline, November 2010

We support environmental projects and organisations working to protect and enhance the environment in Auckland or Northland. This can include general support for equipment, operating costs and minor building projects.

Although the Trust this year budgetted $1.5 million for environment grants, providing relatively small amounts toward operating costs remains a priority. The latest include: $23,907 for running costs at Warkworth’s The Sanctuary Charitable Trust; $30,000 for Waitakere’s Ecomatters Environment Trust; $16,833 for the Urban Ecoliving Charitable Trust; $22,250 for Waitakere Ranges Protection Society and $30,000 for the Friends of Oakley Creek, in Mt Albert, Auckland.

Grants can also help out with bigger projects, such as the $50,000 contribution to a rodent fence at Great Barrier Island’s Glenfern Sancturary and another $50,000 to the Omaha Shorebird Protection Trust for a pest-proof fence.

The largest grant, $300,000, this time went to the Royal Forest & Bird Protection Society’s  Waitakere branch. This will help run the succesful Ark in the Park eco-restoration project in the Cascades Kauri Park. Using trapping and predator control techniques, The Waitakere Ranges project has seen existing flora and fauna flourish and recover, while whitehead, North Island robin, and stitchbird (hihi) have been successfully reintroduced.

Other examples of innovative projects include Friends of Maungawhau, (Mt Eden), where a  grant of $24,450 is helping pay for the documentation of ecological restoration work and $30,000 to the Auckland branch of the New Zealand Association for Environmental Education for its flagship event, Seaweek 2011.

Project Litefoot Trust gained $80,000 to raise awareness about environmental sustainability and the Environmental Defence Society was granted $50,000 toward its operating and project costs.