In this section

The Fund's purpose is to encourage and assist landowners, individuals, community groups, and mana whenua to protect, restore, and enhance the natural environment.

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Outcomes of the Fund

  • Ecologically significant sites are protected and restored, particularly threatened sites and locations.
  • Increased coverage of native vegetation and improved habitat for indigenous wildlife.
  • Improved water quality, for relevant sites.
  • Relationships and trust built with community and landowners to maximise initiatives that benefit the natural environment.
  • Selwyn Biodiversity Strategy and Predator Free 2050 goals are contributed to.

Please note, the Outcomes of the Natural Environment Fund have been updated as of 1 November 2024. Please check your application meets one of these outcomes prior to applying. If you have any questions about the changes, please contact our team at biodiversity@selwyn.govt.nz

Fund Closing Dates

The Natural Environment Fund has two funding rounds each year, with application closing dates listed below.

Application Deadline / Closing Date
(please submit applications prior to this date)
20 March
20 October

Applications that are submitted after the closing dates listed above will not be considered for the current funding round.

Late applications will instead be carried forward and reviewed during the next funding round. For example, an application received on 21 March will be considered after the 20 October closing date.

Decisions will be made within two months of the funding round closing date.

Please note: The C213 Community Funding Policy applies to applications. Retrospective costs (expenses for initiatives completed before the funding round closes) cannot be funded.

How To Apply

Please make note of the following:

1. For your application you will need -

  • a detailed breakdown of your project budget.
  • a detailed site map and project plan.
  • photo/s of the proposed project site.
  • documents or quotes that may support your application, for example ecological assessments and management plans (if any).

2. Familiarise yourself with our criteria, terms and conditions, and contact details found further down on this page.

3. If your project is expected to take more than one year, you may be entitled to apply for multi-year funding, there is opportunity on the application form to upload supporting documentation to apply for this.

Our Online Application Form can be found here.

If you require a hardcopy application form, or need help working through the online form, please contact biodiversity@selwyn.govt.nz to request this.

Resources

Funding Schedule [PDF, 161 KB]

Budget Template [DOCX, 84 KB]

Criteria

All eligibility criteria and details can be found in the Natural Environment Fund - Funding Schedule

Who Can Apply

  • Applicants must be residents and/or ratepayers of the Selwyn District. The funding is open to iwi, community groups, schools, landowners and individuals

Who Can't Apply

  • Selwyn District Council and other Public Agencies, such as ECAN, DOC or LINZ, are excluded from applying to the fund.

What costs can be funded

On private land:

  • Eco-sourced native plants.
  • Materials for restoration planting.
  • Maintenance costs.
  • Fencing to protect areas of existing native vegetation (primarily only for areas identified as Funding Schedule: Natural Environment Fund 2 SNAs, and where fencing is not a legal obligation).
  • Weed control (Priority 1 and 2 sites only).

On Public land:

  • Weed control (Priority 1 and 2 sites only).
  • Consideration may be given to the following:
  • Education and research projects that benefit biodiversity protection and restoration.
  • Costs associated with hosting working bees as part of funded restoration projects.
  • Salary or wages for a specified project, such as facilitator costs for environmental workshops or coordinator costs associated with delivering the activity or programme for which the funds are requested.
What costs can't be funded

In addition to Funding Exclusions as stated in Section 6.7 and 6.8 of the C213 Community Funding Policy:

  • Personal gardens or beautification projects.
  • Purchase of exotic plants or natives that are not natural to the area (this may include native cultivars, non-eco-sourced natives or North Island plant species).
  • Funding will not be provided for work that is legally required or mandated by law.
  • Resource consent fees as a result of any activity associated with this application.
Terms and Conditions

In addition to Section 3 and Section 6 of C213 Community Funding Policy:

  • All work must be within the Selwyn District.
  • Funding is primarily for work on private land. However, funding may be considered for weed control on public land.
  • Any work on public land requires approval from the relevant landowner.
  • For long-term projects, applicants may apply for up to three years of funding. These applications will require a project plan and provide a higher level of detail in their funding application.
  • Council staff may request to meet with the applicant to discuss project details and if necessary, provide advice.
  • Financial assistance will usually be no more than 70% of a project’s total costs.
  • The applicants share of the costs can be by way of in-kind contributions (e.g. labour), other funding or cash.

Protection of Our Natural Environment

Many areas of private land in the Selwyn District contain patches of vegetation that harbor rare, restricted or threatened native species - both plant and animal.

They include areas of forest, bush, tussock, scrub and wetland, many of which have been classified as Significant Natural Areas. Although much native vegetation has been cleared or drained for farming and other activities, some patches have been left alone or actively conserved by landholders.

Assessment Criteria:
Applications will be evaluated against the following criteria, as relevant to each project:

  • Funding Schedule: Natural Environment Fund
  • The degree to which the work protects, benefits, or restores indigenous biodiversity and ecosystems.
  • The existing biodiversity values of the project area.
  • The long-term benefits of the work funded.
  • The degree of current threat to the project site e.g. from stock or invasive weeds and pests.
  • Evidence of the applicant’s commitment to the project, including their in-kind contributions and/or co-funding.
  • The degree of on-going protection and maintenance for the work funded.

Priority Ranking

The maximum grant allocation will depend on the priority ranking:

  1. To protect and restore sites that contain significant indigenous biodiversity and/or habitat, as defined by Significant Natural Area (SNA) criteria in the Selwyn District Plan
  2. To help restore and protect sites with remnant native biodiversity.
  3. To create new sites of native restoration planting on private land – where there is a waterway, wetland, or other important ecological feature.
  4. To create new sites of native restoration planting on private land – other sites.

More Information

If you would like to discuss your application further, please contact the Environmental Team on 03 347 2800 or email biodiversity@selwyn.govt.nz