The Weedbusters small-scale initiative fund, supported by individual regional councils, unitary authorities, and Department of Conservation, provides funds for Weedbusters groups to cover ‘small scale’ costs such as tools, herbicides, mulcher hire, greenwaste disposal, promotional activities within communities to get Weedbusters groups off the ground, and so on.
Currently the Weedbusters small-scale initiative fund is available in the regions/areas covered by the following local authorities:
- Northland Regional Council
- Auckland Council
- Waikato Regional Council
- Bay of Plenty Regional Council
- Horizons Regional Council
- Taranaki Regional Council
- Hawkes Bay Regional Council
- Greater Wellington Regional Council
- Marlborough District Council (two lots of funding)
- Tasman District Council
- Nelson City Council
- Environment Canterbury
- Otago Regional Council
- Environment Southland
- West Coast Regional Council
Funding is on application rather than contestable, with a limited pool of funds ($2000) available in each area in each financial year.
Criteria for funding applications to be considered
- Groups or individuals must have registered as Weedbusters through the online registration page.
- Projects can be on public land, or on private land where two or more landowners are working together to clear areas of weeds by either targeting specific high-risk species or as part of a wider restoration project. The project is not to be based in private gardens (not including undeveloped gullies) or on productive farmland.
- The funding must be for weed-related initiatives, not for replanting or releasing recently planted native trees (funding for this is usually available through other schemes administered by councils and government departments).
- The weed control must be carried out in accordance with best practice weed management techniques as outlined on the Weedbusters website for each weed species. It must be carried out by volunteers, not contractors.
Enter your application here in the online application form.