20 Million Trees Success for GLENRAC
The Glen Innes Natural Resource Advisory Committee (GLENRAC) is finishing the year on a high, celebrating the announcement made yesterday on the federal governments 20 Million Trees programme. GLENRAC submitted two funding applications worth a total of $170,550.30 (including GST) for revegetation in the Glen Innes district, and were successful in both.
The applications were based on community need, with GLENRAC having received many enquiries for revegetation funding over the past three years. During the application process expressions of interest for tree planting were called for, and the submissions were based on those numbers.
GLENRAC Chairman Jim Benton was very satisfied with the outcome. “These grants will afford a large number of landholders in the local area the opportunity to improve not only the landscape and the environment, but also their livestock production systems. This will also allow GLENRAC to continue to engage the community in active natural resource management. In a sheep operation for example, trees provide shelter for ewes when they are lambing, and can often lead to higher successful lambing percentages”, Mr Benton said.
The first application was entitled “Glen Innes NSW - Creating Habitat Connections and Enhancing Biodiversity on Farm”. The project will establish 11,500 trees on private land, to address the lack of shelter and connectivity between isolated patches of remnant vegetation in the extensively cleared landscape of the local district.
The second application “Northern New England - Linking Remnant Vegetation to Build Habitat Connectivity”, will address the same issue. A total of 19,500 mixed native tree and shrub seedlings will be planted to increase the area of native habitat available for native flora and fauna, and to offer shelter to livestock and pastures. GLENRAC will encourage landholders to plant species known to be present in the two Threatened Ecological Communities in the local area.
In a joint statement yesterday from Minister for Agriculture Barnaby Joyce and Minister for the Environment Greg Hunt, Mr Joyce said “these grants are focused on engaging the community to deliver local environmental and agricultural projects which will have lasting benefits for the environment and productive agricultural landscapes.”
Work on these projects will commence in the new year, and GLENRAC is looking forward to working with landholders on these projects. For further information please contact GLENRAC on 6732 3443 when the office reopens on the 12th of January.
For more information, please contact Glenrac on 6732 3443, or office@glenrac.org.au