Groundworks South West

Devolved Grants for community support

The Groundworks South West Caring for our Country Land Management Tender is a devolved grants scheme designed to provide on-ground support to community groups and engage volunteers in the South West NRM Region.

It is an integral part of our Community Engagement Program at SWCC, as funding for on-ground works has been identified by local NRM/Landcare groups as one of their most important requirements.

Groundworks South West has supported a range of on-ground focussed projects that will result in biodiversity protection, coastal management and sustainable agriculture outcomes for the Australian Government’s Caring for our Country Natural Resource Management (NRM) targets.

The closed auction tender process used as part of the Groundworks South West program allows applicants to “bid” for the on-ground project they want to do. This “bid” is kept confidential between SWCC and the applicant.

• The proposals are first reviewed by the Community Engagement Team.
• Then given a preliminary assessment via a Multi Criteria Analysis (MCA) Tool, which ranks the proposals.
• The final stage of the assessment process involves an Assessment Panel meeting, whereby a consensus decision is made about the proposals, taking the preliminary assessment ranking into account.

Our Community Engagement Team at SWCC has been coordinating this program since 2009. During this time, four funding rounds have been rolled out, with a total of 75 successful projects funded. As a result of these 75 projects, the individual private and public landholdings being directly invested in for environmental outcomes exceed 300. Click here to download a full list of the projects funded under the Groundworks Program.

These projects will provide additional support and capacity to 31 community groups, including local Landcare Groups, LCDCs, Community-based Catchment Groups, preservation societies, production groups, Local Government, sporting & progress associations, Aboriginal organisations and other grassroots community groups.

They will also facilitate the engagement of an estimated 750 volunteers across the region, ranging from school students, to local clubs, sporting associations, correctional facilities, NEEDAC an KEEDAC works crews, CVA volunteers and more.

In addition to this, Groundworks South West has enabled 16 individual landholders from throughout the region to gain access on-ground funding, with the assistance and facilitation of our Community Engagement Project Officers. These landholders are largely from areas in which a local Landcare contact is not available, so it is hoped that these landholders have gained additional knowledge and skills when it comes to applying for funding.

The program has been very successful, with approximately $1.66 million allocated to on-ground projects works. The works range from water quality improvement measures in the Geographe and Peel-Harvey Coastal Hotspots, extensive weed and pest animal control, revegetation for coastal rehabilitation, wind erosion reduction measures and more.

Proponents have until August 2011 to finish their projects, and SWCC officers will then be undertaking site visits and project evaluation and monitoring. We are looking forward to seeing first hand the on-ground achievements of the South West NRM community.