East Gippsland will receive more than $800,000 for bushfire rehabilitation projects to help wildlife and the landscape recover from last year’s summer bushfires.
Federal Member for Gippsland Darren Chester said the community grants would support hands on projects from setting up bee hotels to removing invasive weeds and installing nesting boxes.
“The grants are an important initiative that give our local volunteers and community groups in East Gippsland the support they need to help our local environment recover,” Mr Chester said.
“The funding is an important way to get local bushfire recovery projects underway that benefit our flora and fauna.
“We have so many hardworking people who volunteer their time to care for the bush and our waterways and these grants are just one way of recognising that.
“The people in East Gippsland that have been through the fires know there is still a lot of healing to take place and seeing native animals and plants recover is an important part of the process.”
The grants will support 10 local projects worth more than $802,000 including:
- Foundation for National Parks and Wildlife will receive $150,000 for the Banking on the Future project, which will train community members to identify key plant species, collect and store the seed, and then Upgrades to road surface, footpath and then enable propagation of the seed.
- East Gippsland Shire Council partnered with Friends of Mallacoota and Workways trading as Envite Environmental will receive $149,140, for the Mallacoota Foreshore War on Weeds project that will remove invasive weed species to reduce the threat to regeneration in the local area.
- Land Care Victoria partnered with Swifts Creek Ensay Landcare Group will receive $46,898 for post fire recovery of flora and fauna, including weed control and revegetation in the Upper Tambo River catchment.
- Growling Grass Frog will receive $237,160 for four projects including, provision of bee hotels for native pollinators, provision of frog logs for the large brown treefrog Litoria Watsoni, provision of habitat for Microchiroptera and the introduction of hollows and refuges for species impacted by wildfire in the Alps.
- Workways Australia partnered with Friends of Mallacoota, The Sanctuary (Mallacoota Youth Group) will receive $149,051 for restoring Mallacoota’s nature reserves for wildlife and community recovery.
- Birdlife and Wildlife Victoria will receive $7,820 to work with Point Nepean Men’s Shed to build supplementary shelters and nesting boxes.
- Keeping Charlotte’s Promise Wildlife Shelter Incorporated will receive $62,452 for the construction of an outdoor enclosed Joey Recovery Yard and quarantine stalls.
This funding will help communities deliver bushfire recovery for their local environment and support the broader long-term recovery and resilience.
