Wild Otways Initiative Community Environment Grants Program

The Community Environment Grants Program through two rounds of funding has successfully funded thirty-three projects that demonstrate environmental outcomes through the delivery of revegetation and supporting activities, weed and pest animal control, fencing and access track construction or improvement works that protect and manage environmental values and habitat conservation and threatened species biodiversity.

Projects that are being supported include the following areas:

• Indigenous revegetation and supporting activities (plant propagation and fencing where directly related to and proportional to the benefits of revegetation activities);
• Weed and pest animal control (except those activities outlined in ‘What will not be funded’ section below)
• Fencing and access track construction or improvement works that protect or manage environmental values; and
• Other habitat improvement works.

Use the Interactive Map to see the successful projects funded

Re-vegetating Wild Dog Creek

Duncan and Ian Sadler, along with the other 16 members of the Binnawee Cooperative, are reclaiming a degraded creek.

Funded by a Wild Otways Initiative Community Environment Grant, the cooperative revegetated a 1.1km section of Wild Dog Creek in the Otways with 4,500 plants – trees, understory and ferns – after a careful process to select suitable cool temperate rainforest species, prepare the site and ensure ongoing maintenance.

This project is funded by the Australian Government.

Rewilding the Valley

A Painkalac Creek project that was funded through this Community Environmental Grants Program has restored a terrestrial wetland and habitat for threatened species of mammals near the Great Ocean Road in Victoria.

The project included the planting of 6,000 native trees and understory plants and direct seeding of grasses, weed control, mulch and fencing to protect the plants from kangaroo grazing.

Over 600 hours of volunteer work was undertaken by local environmental community group ANGAIR and young environmental science students were supported to undertake management work and advance their skills and knowledge as part of the project.

The change in the property from bare grazing land to flourishing wetland, emerging riparian vegetation, and sclerophyll woodlands with adjacent native grassland is dramatic.

This project links to the Wild Otways small mammals research in the nearby coastal dunes and a privately funded independent study by Professor Barbara Wilson, where EPBC listed Swamp Antechinus have been found, emphasising the importance of vegetation continuity and refuges in the Painkalac Valley.

Round One Projects

We’re excited to announce $855,000 worth of applications have been currently approved. View the list of approved projects below.

Round Two Projects

We’re excited to announce $141,868 worth of applications have been currently approved. View the list of approved projects below.

This project is funded by the Australian Government. This project will run until 2023.