Enhanced Support Amplifies Impact of Rural Landholder Initiative

Lismore City Council is expanding its Rural Landholder Initiative (RLI), a successful program supporting 218 restoration projects aimed at protecting the region’s biodiversity. The RLI, established in 2015, has been instrumental in funding various projects to enhance rural land quality and sustainability in the region.

In the latest iteration, successful applicants will receive more substantial grants over an extended period, recognising the time and effort invested in each project.

Lismore City Council unveils innovative ArtVenture Trail in the CBD

Over the past eight years, the initiative has achieved notable milestones, including the planting of 56,000 trees, restoring 360 hectares of bushland, and installing 17 kilometres of habitat and riparian fencing. The program collaborates with environmental champions, Landcare, and other community groups to engage and educate the public.

The revamped RLI offers individual landholders grants of up to $15,000 over three years, an increase from $7,500 over two years. Additionally, starting next year, community Landcare groups, industry entities, and other incorporated groups dedicated to improving natural habitat can apply for a $50,000 grant over three years.

David Dreher, Council’s Environmental Strategies Officer, highlighted that these changes leverage lessons learned over the years. The adjustment includes shifting the annual grant cycle to every two years, enabling the focus on other opportunities in alternate years. This modification also allows industry, community, and other groups to apply for funding during these alternate years.

Enhanced Support Amplifies Impact of Rural Landholder Initiative

Dreher emphasised that the changes provide successful applicants with more options and enhance the quality of environmental projects. The increased funding and extended project timelines allow for better stabilization of sites before moving on to the next implementation stage.

Expressions of Interest for the RLI are currently open, with a closing date of December 18, 2023. Applicants are encouraged to review the RLI Policies and Guidelines before submitting their applications online. The program aims to continue its success in promoting environmental conservation and community engagement.

For additional information, applicants can visit the official website and participate in planning field day events. A community workshop, ‘Realising the Dream: Project Planning for Bush Restoration,’ is scheduled for Saturday, November 18, offering practical advice on bush regeneration, site planning, and exploring restored forests. For further inquiries and updates, interested parties can contact the Council’s Rural Landholder Initiative projects officer at environmental.strategies@lismore.nsw.gov.au or phone 02 6625 0500.

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New measures to protect one of the Tweed’s most beloved birds

Safeguarding of osprey population taken to new heights with interactive website and calls for community help – This November, Council is shining a spotlight on one of the Tweed’s favourite top-order predators – the osprey, listed as vulnerable to extinction in NSW.

To help educate the community about the local osprey population, Council has launched a new webpage and online StoryMap – a tool which provides an informative, fun and interactive way for residents and kids to engage and learn about these amazing birds.

Ospreys are integral to biodiversity in estuarine ecosystems and their presence in waterways can be an indicator of good waterway health.

Council’s Team Leader Coast and Waterways Tom Alletson said working to protect the local osprey population has been a focus of Council’s for many years.

In March this year, Council installed this artificial osprey nesting platform at Hastings Point Holiday Park. The nest was relocated from its precarious location on a light pole on the Hastings Point Tweed Coast Road Bridge.

“Ospreys in the Tweed are much admired and cherished by locals and tourists alike,” Mr Alletson said.

“Council is working to ensure ospreys are secure in the wild, their habitat is protected and restored and they remain an iconic member of our community for future generations.”

Council is also urging the community to help the local osprey population in three ways:

• Dispose of fishing line and tackle responsibly.
• Help monitor nest sites during breeding season from March to November – contact via Council’s website at tweed.nsw.gov.au/osprey.
• Protect and rehabilitate estuarine osprey habitat for future generations via Council’s River Health Grants scheme.

Mr Alletson said in the Tweed Shire, osprey observations have been recorded from the Tweed Coast to the upper limits of Tweed River Estuary at Murwillumbah.

“As we last recorded in the 2022 breeding season, there were 27 artificial and two natural nests in the Tweed Shire, with 20 active breeding sites,” he said.

An osprey overlooking its artificial nest site on the Tweed Sand Bypass jetty. Photo: Dean Lock

“We’d love the community to help monitor ospreys to find new nesting sites or keep an eye on the ones that are there. We want to ensure this species not only survives, but flourishes, and continues to breed successfully in the Tweed.”

The removal of established, native riparian vegetation over time in the Tweed has significantly reduced suitable nesting sites and habitat connectivity for the local osprey population. In the absence of tall, mature trees, the majority of the Tweed’s vulnerable osprey population now rely on artificial nesting structures during their annual breeding season, from March to November.

Installation of secure, artificial nesting structures for osprey and riparian restoration and revegetation are key to Council’s holistic approach to improving the health of local waterways.

Protecting the Tweed Coast osprey population is one way Council is looking after the Tweed’s environment for future generations to enjoy.

To learn more, visit the new StoryMap interactive site or find out how you can volunteer to monitor nesting sites, visit tweed.nsw.gov.au/osprey.

For more Tweed Shire news, click here.

National Recycling Week – What goes around comes around

Northern Rivers residents are being reminded that ‘what goes around comes around’ as North Easte Waste and local councils celebrate National Recycling Week from November 13-19.

Planet Ark’s theme for this year’s event – What goes around comes around – reminds us that much of what we currently send to landfill is actually valuable material that could be reused, repurposed, recycled and kept in circulation.

North East Waste and its member councils have already been working to encourage a regional shift to a ‘circular economy’ through recent initiatives including the Reuse and Repair Trail and Secondhand Saturday.

North East Waste education coordinator Linda Tohver said National Recycling Week was not about recycling more, but recycling better.

“It’s about quality over quantity and keeping materials in circulation for as long as possible,” Ms Tohver said.

“This benefits the environment by reducing the extraction of virgin materials for new products, as well as the resources it takes to make them.”

As part of this year’s National Recycling Week, North Easte Waste is encouraging everyone to preference reusable products, and to check if they’re recyclable.

Check it before you chuck it! The Australasian Recycling Label Program has made the process of identifying which household products can go in which bin much easier now for householders. Keep an eye out for the instruction labels on common household items (eg. meat trays and cheese containers) that shows which bin each component of the packaging can go into as well as where recycling can occur.

For further information or interviews contact Linda Tohver on 0427 770198.

Also, see our guide to recycling ‘beyond your bin’ here:

• Return and Earn – Currently accepts drink containers such as cans, beer and mixer bottles, cartons, juice boxes and poppers.

• Various take- back schemes through TerraCycle are now in place for a variety of beauty, self-care and dental products.

• Handheld and car batteries, paints, oils, gas bottles, fluoro globes and tubes and smoke detectors are accepted for FREE at any of the north coast’s Community Recycling Centres (CRC).

• For small quantities of some problem wastes, such as handheld batteries and mobile phones, residents have access to the region’s network of 30 FREE Community Recycling Stations (CRS) installed by Councils and North East Waste. They can be found at various easy to access locations across the region including some libraries, Council Administration Centres and Community Centres.

• Most handheld batteries can also be recycled at any B-cycle drop off point available at participating retailers including Woolworths, Coles, Aldi, Bunnings and Battery World.

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