Environmental Restoration and Rehabilitation

Community and government organisations can apply for grants of up to $100,000 for projects that achieve long-term outcomes for the NSW environment.

Applications for the 2020-21 round are anticipated to open in October 2020.

Purpose

To assist community and government organisations to contribute to the ongoing sustainable management and stewardship of significant environmental assets and services in NSW.

Funding available

Funding Stream Total annual allocation for the 2020 round Funding amount per project Project timeframe
Community $2,000,000 up to $100,000 2-3 years
Government $2,000,000 Up to $100,000 2-3 years

Who can apply?

  • community groups and organisations
  • incorporated associations
  • non-profit organisations
  • non-commercial cooperatives
  • local councils
  • state government agencies and entities.

The program is currently closed to applications. The guidelines below are for interest only.

All applications for the 2019-2020 round of the program were made via the Trust's new online Grants Management System.

Download the Grants Management System Online Portal User Manual 2019

Other useful documents available to assist you to prepare your application in the Grant Management System include:

Other useful reference documents:

You may also have to submit some other documents or evidence. They'll be listed in the grant agreement we send you.

Milestone reports and final report

You will need to submit a Milestone Reporting (formerly progress report) at the conclusion of each stage of works that aligns with your approved Work Plan. These will outline what you've achieved and what you'll do next.

Milestone reports are reviewed by technical experts who can ensure you're on the right track and give you feedback or advice. After your report is reviewed and accepted, we'll pay your next grant instalment.

When your project finishes, you'll have to submit a final report that says what it has achieved.

Trust Administration will direct you how to prepare your Milestone report in the Trust's Grant Management System closer to the time of reporting.

Financial reports

You must submit an updated and authorised financial report with all your progress reports. You also need to submit a certified financial report as a part of your final project report.

If you need to rearrange your project’s budget, you should apply for a budget variation.

Trust Administration will direct you how to prepare your financial report in the Trust's Grant Management System closer to the time of reporting.

Other documents

You may also have to submit some other documents or evidence. They'll be listed in the grant agreement we send you.

Where to send reports

Email reports and other documents should be sent to info@environmentaltrust.nsw.gov.au (50MB limit).

All aspects of planning, monitoring, evaluation and reporting (including expenditure) will be managed through the online Grants Management System.

Instructions for using the Grants Management System are available through:

Acknowledgement requirement

Please acknowledge the funding you’ve received from the Trust in all publications and materials related to your project. We ask that you say:

This project has been assisted by the New South Wales Government through its Environmental Trust.

See Funding acknowledgement for more information.

You can download case studies of previous projects from Learning from funded projects.

In the program's most recent round (2019-2020), both the community and government funding streams were combined with the Trust approving 35 grants totaling $3,167,458.

Project summaries

The Trust has all its contestable grants programs independently evaluated to assess their effectiveness.

The Restoration and Rehabilitation (R&R) program was the focus of an independent evaluation completed in June 2017.

The evaluation was undertaken by Natural Resources Commission who have extensive experience in evaluating government initiatives across a variety of sectors. The evaluation focussed on the delivery of the program, and projects funded by it, between 2010 and 2015.

The evaluation Final Report (and its recommendations) was considered and accepted by the Trust in November 2017. An Administrative Response was also developed to address the issues raised in the evaluation. The Evaluation Report concluded that overall the R&R program is well-run, however, suggested a range of recommendations relating to:

  • program design
  • governance and administration
  • application process and selection of projects
  • communication
  • monitoring, evaluation and reporting.

These reports have been made available through the links below.