More than $3 million of large-scale native vegetation conservation projects across South Australia will be delivered thanks to $1 million in grant funding from the Marshall Liberal Government.
Nine projects have received funding including strategic and coordinated restoration of nearly 400,000ha of the South Olary Plains Mallee, expanded wildlife refuges at Secret Rocks and establishing perennial native grasslands and sub-shrubs in a grassy woodland on the slopes of the eastern Mount Lofty Ranges.
The Linking Landscapes funding is part of the Marshall Liberal Government's historic $3 million Revitalising Private Conservation in South Australia program.
Minister for Environment and Water David Speirs said since 1980, Native Vegetation Heritage Agreements have been helping to protect and restore important native bushland across the state.
"Our revitalised grants program allows the State Government, in association with leading nature conservation not-for profit organisations, to work in partnership with private landholders to conserve native vegetation and deliver practical environmental outcomes," Minister Speirs said.
"In South Australia, Heritage Agreements are a proven way to support private landowners to protect important bushland and achieve conservation outcomes that benefit the state and the landholders.
"This new grants round will help both Heritage Agreement owners as well as non-Heritage Agreement owners to achieve large-scale conservation outcomes, create corridors and connectivity between areas of private conservation or to achieve conservation outcomes on large parcels of land.
"This will see hundreds of thousands of hectares across South Australia restored and threatened species such as the mallee fowl and sandhill dunnarts better protected.
"Projects like these support the Marshall Liberal Government's back-to-basics approach for landscape and nature conservation management and deliver improved environmental and economic outcomes in partnership with private landholders.
"Unfortunately, the former Labor Government turned its back on Heritage Agreements reducing the annual funding from $1 million to just $4,000.
"This is just another example of the former government failing to take practical action to improve our environment and ignoring South Australia's regions - something we are fixing."
Nature Foundation CEO Hugo Hopton said it was gratifying to see such a high quality of applications for this grant round.
"It's really pleasing to have so many current and aspiring Heritage Agreement owners wanting to work together to amplify the impact of the grants and support our threatened native species by boosting habitat on their properties," Mr Hopton said.
The Revitalising Private Conservation grant program is funded by the Marshall Liberal Government, and delivered by Nature Foundation in partnership with Conservation SA, Livestock SA, Nature Conservation Society of South Australia and Trees For Life.
For more information: www.revitalisingconservationsa.org.au
The nine projects include:
- Installation of a 18 kilometre fence to protect 3828 hectares of threatened fauna and flora species on the Eyre Peninsula ($710,000)
- Restoration of the South Olary Plains near Renmark which will include undertaking strategic conservation planning and restoration across 386,578 hectares ($305,000)
- Use of thermal imaging to assist with the culling of feral pigs across 145,000 hectares of the western side of Kangaroo Island ($$880,000)
- Mantung Maggea Land Management Group to conservation 6,151 hectares of Malleefowl habitat across the Murray Mallee region ($148,000)
- Morialta Biolink involving pest control and revegetation of threatened flora across 20 properties between Morialta Conservation Park and Cherryville ($430,000)
- OliBel Project, involving 27 landholders surrounding Belair Conservation Park and Mark Oliphants Conservation Park ($325,000)
- Protecting 112 hectares of stringybark woodlands on the Sea of Stones on the Limestone Coast ($40,000)
- Restoration of grassy woodlands near Bangham on the Limestone Coast ($120,000)
- Establishment of perennial native grasslands, focusing on threatened Irongrass communities in the eastern Adelaide Hills ($100,000).
