Good News Story- Congratulations to Friends of the Koala! 

On a very competative field of grant applicants to Australian Ethical's Community Grants Scheme, our Northern Rivers local Friends of the Koala have been included as 1 of the 17 winners of this grant. This is a great achievement as these grants supports projects both nation wide and internationally and the calibre of the competition was very high.

The supported Friends of the Koala project will establish an on-site triage and pathology facility at the Friends of the Koala’s Care Centre in East Lismore, adding great value to their 30 years of licensed voluntary koala rehabilitation. For more information about the activities of Friends of the Koala CLICK HERE

If your organisation has a project that could be in the mix for next years applications (expected to open in March / April 2018) it is never too early to ready yourself.
Explore the guidelines HERE

In Lismore City Council area? Its time to start planning your project!

The Rural Landholder Initiative has been underway since 2015 and has proven to be a great success. Grants available within this initiative have now expanded with a welcomed addition of $100,000 from the NSW Environment Trust. The program is now open for expressions of interest with applications closing January 25th 2018 giving you ample time to plan out your project. 

The grant funding can provide labour and materials to regenerate high conservation value native vegetation, including endangered ecological communities, threatened species habitat and riparian land. This also includes off-stream stock watering and fencing systems, weed control and the planting of native tree trees. 

The Big Scrub Rainforest – a journey through time has arrived!  

Prepared by Big Scrub Landcare in partnership with Rous County Council with the generous support of Brookfarm, this new book contains contributions from writers, artists and photographers, and explores how the Big Scrub came to be, the ecological value it holds today, what it means to people and what its future might look like. 

So far it is available for purchase from: Brunswick, Lismore or Byron Visitor Information Centres; Nimbin or Lismore Environment Centres; Mary Ryan's Byron Bay, Mullumbimby Bookshop or Book Warehouse Lismore.
Phone orders are available through the Book Warehouse on 66210 4204 and they will post to you.

Click here for more info on the wonderful work of the Big Scrub Landcare group 

Restoration and Rehabilitation grants ** Change in timing **

The NSW Environmental Trust usually calls for applications to its Restoration and Rehabilitation Grants Program in August / September each year.

The call for applications will now commence in November 2017 with applications closing in early February 2018. 

Successful grantees will still be announced in May/June, with projects commencing as normal in August.

This shift is in response to internal process reviews and feedback from applicants and grantees within the recent independent program evaluation (undertaken by the Natural Resources Commission), including concerns about the length of time between application submission and notification of successful projects. 

Questions? Contact the Trust Administration on (02) 8837 6093 or via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

To find out about other grants programs delivered by the Environmental Trust, please visit the Trust website. 

Great achievements at Busby's Flat 

There is lots of action at Busby's Flat at the moment as the Northern Rivers Fire and Biodiversity Consortium's partnership project works its way through Year 2 of its NSW Environmental Trust Restoration and Rehabilitation grant. The project is protecting and enhancing the ecological and cultural significance of 4 sites at Busby's Flat through bush regeneration work and appropriate fire management. Undertaking the on-ground work is Casino-Boolangle LALC and EnviTE who have been targeting Cat's Claw Creeper and Lantana along 4.5 km of creek to protect the habitat of a number of threatened species.

The team's work has been extended thanks to a Working on Country grant from North Coast Local Land Services enabling the project to target a larger area, controlling Winter Senna and Privet which has been taking hold along the flats of Busby's Creek. Mosaic patch burning across 43 ha of LALC land, planned for later this year, will protect the habitat of threatened species such as Yello Bellied Gliders and Koala's from wildfire and threat of Bell Miner Associated Dieback (BMAD), a key threatening process. It will also hopefully encourage the regeneration of River Red Gums and other Eucalypt species which once dominated the area adjoining the riparian rainforest of Busby's Creek, making this site of particularly high conservation value.