What is the Victorian Junior Landcare and Biodiversity Grants?
The 2021 Victorian Junior Landcare and Biodiversity Grants is a program which provides funding for projects that seek to involve and educate young Victorians in valuing and actively caring for Victoria’s biodiversity and our natural environment.
Background
The Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning and Landcare Australia are partnering for a fourth year to fund the 2021 Victorian Junior Landcare and Biodiversity Grants for schools, kindergartens, childcare centres, Scouts, Girl Guides and youth groups.
Applications are now open for the 2021 grants that provide an opportunity to secure funding to engage young Victorians in outdoor, hands-on, on-ground projects and environmental learning activities that provide both environmental and educational outcomes, as well as health and social benefits.
Funding
The Victorian Government is providing funding of up to $450,000 for the 2021 Victorian Junior Landcare and Biodiversity Grants. Eligible applicants can apply for grants of up to $5,000 (excluding GST).
Eligible Projects
The 2021 Victorian Junior Landcare and Biodiversity Grants will provide funding for projects that have a focus on:
- Improving biodiversity through the development, improvement or restoration of habitat for Victoria’s native plants (flora) and animals (fauna) – on-ground focus area. This may include on-ground projects that focus on:
- Habitat creation and improvement (e.g. planting indigenous vegetation, nest box installation and monitoring); and/or
- Conserving, rehabilitating, restoring and protecting Victoria’s native flora, fauna and vegetation communities by addressing threats to biodiversity in your local area or areas identified in Focus Landscapes which are places that are likely to give the greatest biodiversity benefits (e.g. weed invasion, fencing to exclude livestock or predators, and pest animals such as rabbits); and/or
- Bushfire recovery (e.g plant propagation, weed control, conservation fencing or planting indigenous vegetation in fire-affected areas)
- Educating, involving and engaging young people in valuing and actively caring for Victoria’s natural environment – education focus area. This may include:
- Projects that increase opportunities for young people to engage with Victoria’s biodiversity and connect with our natural environment such as an outdoor classroom with local indigenous vegetation, a nature trail, or a school excursion to a wildlife shelter, zoos or sanctuaries; and/or
- Where permissible under coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions, an incursion or excursion. For example to CERES, Edithvale-Seaford Wetland Education Centre, Ecolink, Healesville Sanctuary, Mt Rothwell, Phillip Island Nature Parks, Port Phillip Eco Centre, Marine and
Freshwater Discovery Centre, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria- Melbourne and Cranbourne, Serendip Sanctuary, Winton Wetlands, or a local national park visitor centre; and/or - Projects that educate and raise awareness, among young people, of the benefits and importance of biodiversity and a healthy local environment, and/or how they can contribute to environmental and biodiversity improvement and how they can get involved in environmental volunteering. For example, installation of interpretive signage, creating of biodiversity-themed posters, an educational talk from a local scientist or a member of a Landcare or environmental volunteering group working in wildlife conservation, citizen science activities in which students collect data about their local environment and the plants and animals that live there.
Projects can be either direct-action projects (with an on-ground component) or in-direct action projects (with an education component), or a mixture of both.
Examples of projects that address both of the key focus areas include:
- Independent student project work researching threats to biodiversity such as pest plants and animals, habitat loss, climate change (education focus), paired with an on-ground hands-on weeding or planting activity in a local reserve, where students can apply their learnings (onground focus).
- In-class learning activities focused on protecting Victorian threatened species (education focus) paired with a nest box installation (on-ground focus) and monitoring program to support a local threatened species. This project provides both on-ground environmental outcomes (habitat creation) and educational outcomes for students who learn apply and reinforce in-class learnings by participating in the nest box monitoring.
Eligible Applicants
The 2021 Victorian Junior Landcare and Biodiversity Grants are open to any school (primary or secondary), kindergarten, childcare centre, Scouts, Girl Guides, youth group, youth environmental volunteer groups, and Junior Landcare groups in Victoria.
To be eligible, applicant schools or groups must work with young people who are preferably under the age of 18.
Your school/youth group/childcare centre may choose to partner with other schools/youth groups/childcare centres, or Junior Landcare groups. In this instance, each organisation will need to submit a separate application. In the application form, you will be required to indicate if you are partnering with another organisation in your project, so partner applications can be considered collectively.
Timing
Applications close 30 April 2021.
