Otago Regional Council (ORC) is reminding community and environmental groups in Otago that its annual ECO Fund will open this Friday (March 1).

The fund supports community-led projects around the region that protect, enhance and promote the environment and this year more than $900,000 is available after a substantial boost.

ORC manager environmental implementation Libby Caldwell said the fund had received a 58.4 percent boost for a one-off large scale fund, which targets projects in a range of $50,000 to $150,000.

The ORC has consistently received more applications than it can fund, she said, which has led to the increase in funding.

“We’ve definitely started seeing greater interest in community-led projects around Otago and want to foster more of these partnerships which so positively enhance the environment,” she said.

The funding is broken into five categories: general grants ($300,000); incentives targeted at sustained rabbit management ($100,000); incentives targeted at water quality ($50,000); incentives targeted at biodiversity enhancement on protected private land ($100,000); incentives targeted at native planting following pest control ($50,000); and large scale biodiversity grants ($300,000).

Since the Eco Fund’s began in 2018, 133 projects have received grants, totalling $1.71M.

ORC councillor and ECO Fund chair Alan Somerville encouraged groups to make an application.

“It's a very good plan to contact the council to discuss your project before putting your application in,” he said. 

Anyone interested in applying is encouraged to review ECO Fund information on the ORC website and getting in touch with the ECO Fund team to discuss potential applications by emailing [email protected] or calling 0800 474 082.

ECO Fund applications will be open from Friday (March 1) until April 2.

PHOTO: Supplied