Community funding platforms Love Wānaka and Love Queenstown have raised $100,000 and they plan to distribute it to worthy organisations and projects.

The platforms have opened applications for their 2025 Impact Grants, which will support charitable organisations delivering frontline climate, conservation, and biodiversity projects in the district.

“These grants are about empowering the incredible organisations already working so hard to protect our rohe (region),” Love Wānaka and Love Queenstown community fund coordinator Ash Bickley said.

Eligible organisations can now apply for grants ranging from $5,000 to $10,000. 

Funding has been made possible by generous contributions from visitors, tourism operators, and local businesses committed to protecting the region’s natural environment, Ash said. 

“The ongoing support from the visitor industry has been inspiring, showing a real commitment to not just sustaining, but regenerating, the places we love.”

The grants will support charitable organisations delivering frontline climate, conservation, and biodiversity projects in the region. PHOTO: Jordan Siobhan

Since their inception in 2023, Love Wānaka and Love Queenstown have brought industry volunteers together to plant 6,500 native trees, connected numerous visitors to volunteer opportunities, become hubs for sustainable travel information, and invested over $32,500 via endowment funds. 

“This is about building a regenerative future for our region,” Destination Queenstown and Lake Wānaka Tourism CEO Mat Woods said. 

“These funds are a direct result of visitor and business generosity and are a unique example of how tourism can support real, on-the-ground environmental action.”

Past recipients of Love Wānaka and Love Queenstown’s Impact Grants include Te Kākano Aotearoa Trust, Predator Free Wānaka (formerly Wānaka Backyard Trapping), WAI Wānaka, and the Upper Clutha Wilding Tree Group, among others.

Find more information, including full eligibility criteria and application details, here.