Environmental science projects receive a boost
11 new science and research projects to understand and conserve NSW's threatened plants and animals have been funded, Environment Minister Gabrielle Upton announced 9 February.
"The NSW Government's Saving our Species program invests in science to deliver the knowledge we need to conserve our unique NSW threatened species," Ms Upton said.
"These innovative statewide projects allow us to trial new techniques, grow our understanding and develop new and better approaches to managing our threatened plants and animals into the future."
The projects will be delivered at various sites across NSW by scientists from the Office of Environment and Heritage, CSIRO, the Royal Botanic Gardens and several universities including the University of Sydney, University of New England, University of Western Sydney, University of New South Wales and the University of Newcastle.
The grants total almost $400,000 and some of the projects include:
- $10,300 to help save the stuttering frog, only known to occur in south-east and north-east NSW.
- $32,000 to develop techniques to grow endangered ground orchids to support the species in the wild.
- $20,000 to understand how fire impacts plant pollination to help fire management.
"These projects are in addition to the over 300 conservation projects currently being delivered under the Saving our Species program," Ms Upton said.
The NSW Government's Saving our Species program aims to secure threatened plants and animals in the wild in NSW.
In 2016, the NSW Government provided new funds of $100 million over 5 years to the program.
